Light and Leaf
by DarkBlackHeart
Summary: Naruto fails to return Sasuke and is banished only to become a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Light. When Konoha comes begging, will Naruto give them his aid?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: There are a lot of things I would do with Naruto if I could change it, thus the reason that I do not own Naruto.

Warning: The story may get a bit gory. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Village of the Light

Chapter 1: Serenity before the Storm

The pounding of footsteps warned the forest of the incoming mercenaries. A ninja had been spotted nearby and it was their duty to wipe him out. His entry in the Bingo Book would bring them a great paycheck and with their numbers they were confident that even a S-ranked light nin would fall. What they failed to realize is that ninja's were known for stealth and with the sound they were making, they would have woken a rock from a coma. It astonished the watching ninja that they could be so foolishly stupid. With a flash of light, half of the ninja fell. By the time the rest of the mercenaries realized it, they were dead with their comrades. It was a painless death. The fox mask covering the ninja's face seemed to laugh at the stupidity of humans as a second ninja jumped down near the scene.

"Hey, Raven." The first ninja greeted brightly, only to earn a glare that would silence any non-suicidal being. The message went across and both of them took to the trees, approaching a mansion hidden away in the forest. Inside, the two knew their target waited. A rich man, in his early forties had decided to send a threat to the leader of their hidden village. In response, the leader sent two of her best jounins to kill him. Threats were dealt with extreme prejudice. The leader of the Light Village would have sent one of the four council members, the strongest ninja in the village, but decided instead to test two of her AMAZON. Like Konoha's ANBU, the AMAZON dealt with the harder missions and handled security when necessary. Fox and Raven were two of her best and the Kirakage was testing them to see if they were ready to become senseis.

Inside the mansion, the two slipped easily past security and entered the bedroom of the target bypassing ninja-for-hire. Slitting the throat of the old man, Raven gave a slight signal indicating that they would go through the window to get out. While neither was the superior on the mission, both Fox and Raven had decided early on that Fox was the better distraction and Raven was the strategist and assassin. Given the amount of missions that they were paired together, Fox and Raven worked well together. Without a glance at the body, the two AMAZON ninja jumped out of the window and headed home.

NININININININININININI

"Your mission was a success?" The blonde haired kage watched the two newcomers closely, eyes a stunning blue.

"Yes, Kirakage-sama." Raven replied, not moving from his kneeling position in front of the desk of one of the most powerful ninja alive.

"Remove your masks, Fox, Raven. I give you five days off for the successful completion of the mission that I gave you." Both ninja obeyed immediately, revealing a long-haired raven, perhaps twenty years old. Onyx eyes blinked with very little emotion. His partner, the complete opposite, had a emotion-filled face with cerulean eyes and spiked blonde hair. He grinned brightly at the woman in front of him who responded with a small smile. Though people often confused the blonde haired kage and Naruto as siblings, they were actually cousins given that their fathers had been brothers.

"Welcome home, Itachi, Naruto-kun. I'm glad your safe." Naruto and Itachi nodded, expressions once again complete opposites.

"Thanks, Serenity-chan." The girl rolled her eyes at the one person who could call her that and live a pleasant life with all body parts attached. Naruto and her had a unique relationship since the day that Serenity had found her cousin beaten and broken at the valley of the end. At the time, they had no idea of their relationship to each other. Upon returning the blonde to his hometown, Serenity waited with a pair of guards/advisors in their typical AMAZON masks. The Hokage and a few others seemed genuinely pleased to see Naruto, but the rest glared.

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"Naruto, you have been summoned to the council chambers." Serenity's eyes narrowed at the ANBU who hd interrupted the conversation Naruto and Serenity were having over the best type of weapon for a shinobi to have. The man, like most ANBU, seemed to have no emotions but that did not surprise Serenity. She understood the concept and asked her AMAZON troops, while on a mission, to keep their emotions hidden. Despite his mask, Serenity could hear the vendictive smirk in the mans tone. _

_"Why?" Serenity's voice became icy and the two guards surrounding the female kage tensed at her tone. Panther and Snake stepped forward to block the ANBU's view of Naruto, who was watching in confusion. _

_"I don't know, Kirakage-sama. All I know is that the council wants to see Naruto." Serenity nodded once and her guards backed down. Informing the ANBU, to his displeasure, that she would be accompaning them, Serenity walked off, leaving her ninja to help Naruto stand and walk. The ANBU led the way, explaining proper etiquette to the increasing pissed Kirakage. _

_"I am _not_ a fool, ANBU-san. Please stop treating me as such." The snicker from Panther earned a glare, and the Kirakage pushed open the door into the council chambers. Tsunade had tears flowing down her cheeks and many ninja seemed extremely angry, but the civilian council smirked until they saw just who had entered. The Kirakage moved to Tsunades left and her two AMAZON ninja remained by Naruto's side. _

_"Uzumaki Naruto, for failure to return Uchiha Sasuke to Konoha, you shall be executed." The instant the words left the councilors mouth she felt extremely srong killing-intent coming from both blonde kages. Naruto looked at the floor considering the words. _

_"On what charge, councilwoman?" Panther spoke first. The councilwoman looked at the AMAZON in confusion. _

_"Why are you speaking, ANBU? You have not been given the floor." Koharu spoke, Danzo and Himura smiled behind her. _

_"Kira does not have ANBU and from one councilwoman to another, what charges is Uzumaki Naruto to be executed for? And who else will be recieving the punishment?" _

_Danzo spoke this time."I'm afraid I fail to see your point, ANBU. Only Uzumaki Naruto had an opening and failed to bring back Uchiha Sasuke, therefore, only Uzumaki Naruto will be executed." Panther sighed and glanced at the kage who smiled and nodded. The girl muttered 'irritating' before removing her mask. Emerald eyes and pitch black hair cascaded down, past a stunning face. The shinobi side immediately grabbed weapons, preparing for an attack from the S-class ninja of light. _

_"Where there no other ninja on the mission, Danzo-san?" The question caught the council off-guard, few expecting the approach she was taking. _

_"There were. Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji and Inuzuka Kiba." The man who spoke was Hyuuga Hiashi, eyes on the brilliant young woman in front of them. His eyes traveled to the other AMAZON still hidden by a mask. Given that her figure gave away her gender, he could not help but wonder if she was also a member of the only all-kunoichi council for a hidden village. The village hidden in the light had nothing against men and men could be on the council if they were one of the top four ninjas that were not the Kirakage. However, it just so happened that the ninjas that advised Serenity currently were all female and all extremely powerful. _

_"Why are they not being executed as well?" The girl spoke, eyes traveling to the Hyuuga head before returning to Danzo. _

_"They have done nothing wrong." Danzo replied coolly._

_"And Naruto has? Let me hear the other four talk. If you refuse and execute Uzumaki Naruto, Kira will cut all ties with Konoha and urge the other villages to do the same. Understand Danzo, that as you speak for your Hokage, I speak for my Kirakage. If it is within the power of the civilian council to execute Naruto, then it is within my power as councilwoman to the Kirakage to cut all ties and declare war against Konoha. Convince me of your decision, Danzo, and I will remove my threat. Until then, consider us as nuetral and perhaps hostile forces." The girl stepped back to her former position behind Naruto and replaced her mask. _

_"Kirakage-sama! Control your ninja!" A pink-haired banshee called out, eyes on the beautiful blonde ninja who was watching the scene with calculating eyes. _

_"Why? I agree with every word my ninja just said and support her one-hundred percent. I will not allow an execution for such a small reason. Even Shadow, when she was young, failed missions given to her by my predecessor." The panther laughed, mask shaking softly. _

_"Then it seems we are at war, Kirakage-sama." Danzo said icily. "Naruto's execution has been made final." Tsunade stepped forward, eyes narrowed shrewdly. _

_"As Hokage, I object to creating a war for such a reason." Tsunade said, looking at the ninjas who nodded, knowing the cost of such an endeavor. Especially with one of the Light's strongest ninja in the room standing right behind the boy they wished to execute. _

_"I would agree completely, Hokage. If I may place an alternate solution to avoid war?" Tsunade nodded and the ninja's leaned forward to listen to the Kirakage's solution. _

_"Executions can easily be lessened to banishment, if I am not mistaken. Rather than execute young Naruto-kun, perhaps it would be better to banish him. At least then, Naruto would live and my Shadow would be less infuriated. She would not be entirely assuaged, but it would be better than nothing." The council in front of them began to discuss the idea and finally Nara Shikaku stood and looked around the room at the council. _

_"The jounin of Konoha agree with the Karikage. Banishment would be better than Execution." Naruto watched with wide eyes as he watched his dream fade away. Still, Serenity was correct in that if he were banished, he would at least be alive. He watched as the civilians contemplated the idea. Finally, Haruno Asahi spoke for the civilians. _

_"The civilian council agrees with this idea. At least the demon-brat will be out of the village." Serenity narrowed her eyes at the terminology and silently asked the councilwoman to explain. _

_"That is an S-class secret, Haruno." Tsunade snapped, angered at the pink-haired woman for threatening Naruto's life in a new village. She was secretly hoping that the reason Serenity had objected so strongly to Execution but accepted banishment was so that he could join the Kira village. _

_"Then by mentioning it, should she not be executed, Hokage-sama?" The raven-haired councilwoman for Kira spoke up, eyes on the pink-haired woman. Tsunade's eyes flickered with humor. _

_"Yes. She should be. ANBU!" The ANBU that had escorted Naruto in hesitated and Shadow sighed but at a sign from her leader, she unsheathed the sword at the hip of her comrade and moved forward swiftly, slicing Haruno's head from her shoulders with a clean single swipe from her blade. _

_"ANBU should not hesitate when given orders." The panther said icily. Her partner smiled at her friends show underneath her mask. The rest of the council flinched at her speed. Danzo narrowed his eyes at the scene but wisely did not speak as the Panther returned to her partner and returned the sword to its sheath. Naruto spoke up for the first time. _

_"You have a blade so why use hers?" Narutos voice sounded dull compared to the lively vibe it had previous to this meeting. _

_"Mine is only for special battles and I rarely unsheath it." Shadow replied before returning to a completely stoic state. Tsunade waited for the other ANBU to clean up the Harunos body before resuming the meeting. _

_"Do my advisors agree with the others?" Danzo, Himura, and Kohary glanced at each other before Danzo spoke. _

_"The advisors believe that Uzumaki Naruto should be executed." Panther snarled before Serenity held up a hand. _

_"Then we will go to war! AMAZON!" Shadow moved to attack the advisors while her partner moved to protect the blonde, but Tsunade yelled at everyone to stop. The AMAZON froze at a hand sign, remaining aware. _

_"I have the final say, Karikage-sama, as I an the third party and not my advisors. I say that Uzumaki Naruto should remain in the village as I said before." Serenity smiled in humor before turning to the masked councilwoman. _

_"Will this assuage your temper, Shadow? Or shall we still go to war?" Shadow removed her mask once again, glancing at the blonde shinobi behind Snake. _

_"My temper is not gone but it has lessened to an extent where I do not wish war. However, should Uzumaki Naruto be declared a nuke-nin from Konoha, or should any shinobi from the leaf attack Naruto, I will reevaluate my decision." The girl said, before returning to her previous place beside the blonde shinobi. "Serenity-sama, if I may?" The kage nodded and Shadow grinned before kneeling before the blonde and presenting a headbad in front of the entire council. "Uzumaki Naruto, former ninja of the leaf, as is my right as a councilmember underneath the Karikage Serenity, I present you a headband of Kira. If it is your will, I ask that you join the Village Hidden in the Light and follow us. If not, keep the headband and use it should you require safe passage through any hidden village."_

_Naruto smiled at the black-haired councilmember before him before accepting the headand and replacing the leaf headband with the new light one. The four sided star now rested on Naruto's forehead. Shinobi around the council room rose before filing out of the room. The meeting was over. _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

Naruto and Itachi wove through the crowds that gathered at midday before reaching a ramen stand. While it was no where near as good as Ichiraku's, Naruto still appreciated the ramen and accepted the bowls from the stand owner. Itachi just rolled his eyes and motioned for the owner to give him his usual bowl of salt ramen.

"Yo." The word caused Naruto to jump and Itachi to turn to greet the commander of AMAZON. Shadow, holding her typical Panther mask grinned at the former-Konoha ninja's before sitting beside them and ordering Miso Ramen. "Have you two heard the news?" Itachi raised an eyebrow and Naruto shook his head. "Serenity's giving three AMAZON ninja teams." Shadow said, a grin on her face.

"I pity the team that gets you or Aura-sama." Shadow just laughed.

"I do too, but at least if I get a team then I know they will be really good."

"Or they'll be dead." Itachi added monotonously. Naruto laughed hard and Shadow glared at the raven ninja in front of her.

"You're lucky you're not dead." She replied back, a small smirk on her face. Itachi glared at her, remembering the humiliation he suffered at the councilwoman's hands. While not the strongest ninja on the council, she was definately the most influencial, given that the leader of the council was soft-spoken and gentle. Shadow had caught Itachi and Kisame trying to sneak into the borders to capture Naruto, who Shadow had taken on as an apprentice.

Kisame was dead before he could shout a warning and Itachi hadn't lasted much longer. The raven activated the sharingan only for Shadow to move faster than it could track. Instead of killing Itachi, Shadow sent him to the resident torture expert, Effine, who informed her that he had a reason for his actions. Upon learning the reason, Shadow offered him a compromise. He would become a second apprentice to her, and in return for the power she gave him, he would learn to not rely on the sharingan. Itachi agreed only for Shadow to immediately seal his eyes. Itachi was a bit pissed but understood. After the two of them together passed the test that would allow them to become a team, Shadow offered them positions in AMAZON. They agreed and excelled easily among the light shinobi.

"Shadow-hime, Serenity-sama asked me to call you, Raven and Fox to a meeting when you finished your Ramen." Shadow nodded at her friend who stood behind the eagle mask. Naruto and Itachi exchanged looks before placing the masks on and following the AMAZON to the tower they had just left. Inside, nine genin waited anxiously, eyes on the door. Shadow had placed on her Panther mask before entering per the Eagle's instructions.

"Panther, Fox, Raven, I have called you in here to introduce you to your teams." Naruto and Itachi exchanged quick looks before nodding. "Until you feel your genin are ready to know your identities, I ask you keep your masks on." All three of them nodded. "Then, without further ado, I introduce you to the nine graduates. Team Panther is Alyia, Phoenix and Katsuo. Team Raven will be Aita, Aurora and Hitari. Team Fox will be Kyo, Hatori and Haruka. I wish you twelve the best of luck.

NINININININININININININI

"Team Panther, to the cake stand!" Naruto and Itachi rolled their eyes and watched as the energetic councilmembers team followed immediately.

"Team Fox, let's go to training ground 3." The team followed Naruto out and Itachi followed, motioning for his team to accompany him. The two teams parted at the training grounds and Naruto sat in front of his team. He looked at each of them before speaking. "Tell me your names, likes, dislikes and dreams."

"Sensei, shouldn't you start?" Naruto grinned sheepishly and placed a hand behind his neck.

"My name is Fox. If you guys do good enough, I'll tell you my real name but until then, just call me Fox-sensei. My likes are Shadow-sensei, all AMAZON members and people that would sacrifice everything for the village. Dislikes? Konohagakure and advisors that extend their power too much. Dream? To become the strongest shinobu humanly possible and to protect Karikage-sama with my life. If possible, I'd like to become Karikage." The genin nodded before a hot-headed brunette with his hair tied in a braid down his back spoke up.

"I'm Hatanna Kyo. I like any animals, especially vicious ones and Karikage-sama. I dislike people who diss Karikage-sama or any of the council four. My dream is to become a council member." The milk brown eyes flicked to a girl with purple hair wearing a dark green and silver jacket and black capris.

"My name is Kuranne Haruka. I like Shadow-hime and the other council members and anyone that protects them. I dislike people that think they are better than everyone else or rely on one type of fighting style. My dream is to become a medic-nin like Destiny-sama." Haruka and Kyo glanced at the last member of the team who spoke up softly.

"My name is Watarrin Hatori. I like my female cousins and my mother. I dislike my father and most of my male cousins. My dream is to become Serenity-sama's final protection like Angel-sama." Naruto nodded at the shy girl with short platinum blonde hair. His eyes flicked to the three young children before him. All of them wished to become like one of the council four and two of them dreamed of being on said council. To become that strong, Maruto realized he'd have to train these kids hard and long. _Oh well... I always did love a challenge. _


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: There are a lot of things I would do with Naruto if I could change it, thus the reason that I do not own Naruto.

Warning: The story may get a bit gory. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Village of the Light

Ch. 2 Old Friends and New Allies

Naruto smirked as Kyo, Haruka and Hatori fought again over who got the job of actually cleaning the dog run. Despite excellent teamwork in training, the D-rank missions irritated the young light shinobi to no end. So much so that even Hatori had asked him to give them a C-rank mission. Naruto was reluctant to give in given that the team wasn't understanding the purpose of the boring missions he had been giving them.

"Foxy-sama!" Hearing the words, Naruto turned to a little four-year old named Kyoko. When in mask, Kyoko always called him sama which he found entertaining. What was even more entertaining was that Kyoko had figured out his identity faster than three 8-year old ninja's. Kyo turned and looked at his little cousin who was extremely attached to his sensei.

"Fox-san, I sincerely apologize for my daughters rude behavior." Naruto waved his hand at the man who approached in battle capris, indicating that the AMAZON didn't really care before picking up the young kid in his arms.

"How are you, Kyoko-chan?" The girl giggled before going on a narrative of what she did. The genin finshed after about an hour and waited in front of their fox sensei. Hard as they tried, none of them could get the identity of Naruto. Everyone they came up across either sang his praises or smirked and said that he was a great prankster. Other than that, the three genin had no idea how strong their sensei was or anything else.

"Fox." The word echoed and everyone turned to Uchiha Itachi who had no mask on. Naruto inclined his head, waiting for a response. "Serenity-sama wished to see you, me and Shadow-sama. She said she has a mission for a genin team and wants advice from me, you and Shadow on who should go. She told me to tell you to not be biased when giving your decision." Naruto grinned at Itachi, knowing full well the last part of the message was not from his cousin.

"Let's go then. Kyoko, be a good girl and watch over my little genins for me, okay?" Kyoko nodded and began to order the three older kids around. Itachi smirked before walking away, leaving Naruto behind.

NININININININININININ

"Shadow, Itachi, Fox." The Kirakage had her back to them as she stared out her window. "How far along are your teams?" The three glanced at each other before stepping forward.

"Team Panther has a lot of power but little to no concept of teamwork. Alyia and Phoenix seem to always fight over who is better to get the attention of Katsuo, who really couldn't care less. Why the hell did you give me fangirls, Serenity?" Serenity smiled before turning.

"Because I imagine that you will beat that trait from them. Team Raven?" Serenity answered before turning to Itachi.

"My team is the exact opposite. Their teamwork is amazing but the stamina they have is pathetic to say the least. The team is bound and determined to figure out my identity. I'll make a 'mistake' and let my mask slip once I think they can handle a B-rank mission." The Karikage grinned before turning to her last ninja.

"Fox? What about your team?" Naruto inclined his head before gesturing to the other two.

"Take team Panther and team Raven and smash them together and you have my team. They work together well in training, but give them a D-rank and you'd think they were wolves fighting over the alpha position. Their stamina is good for genin and they'll soon be up to chunnin level with ninjutsu and taijutsu. When Destiny-sama is available, I'm gonna ask her to come down and teach Haruka medical ninjutsu." Serenity nodded before returning to her former position.

"I have a message for Konohagakure and I was going to send team Panther and team Raven to complete the mission." Shadow shook her head.

"It'd be suicide for my team, Serenity-sama. If only one went with team Raven, I'd say go for it, but having my team together at this point would be a death sentence. A mercenary could beat them." Itachi rose an eyebrow.

"They hate each other that much?" Shadow nodded. Serenity sighed from her position.

"Can you handle six genin, Itachi?" Itachi answered negatively and Serenity smiled ruefully. "At this point then, we have two options. Naruto and Shadow can switch masks and Naruto can do a henge of Shadow and take over Shadows' team and Shadow can do the same for Naruto's or I can send Naruto to Konoha." Naruto narrowed his eyes as he thought about it. "If Tsunade had a warning before I sent Naruto, she could probably prepare for deception, but I fear if anyone other than the Hokage knows Naruto's identity, he will be killed on sight. Opinions?" Itachi glanced quickly at the blonde before turning to Serenity.

"If it were just Fox and I, I would not be worried. Even with sex genin, I am not worried because none of them know Naruto's identity. Given this, I would recommend Shadow stay and beat some sense into her team and Naruto go with the genins to protect them." Serenity nodded and turned to one of her four official advisors.

"Shadow?"

"My preference is that I stay with my team. However, I am absolutely willing to take Naruto's place as sensei of team Fox for a C-rank mission into Konoha. Anywhere else, I would say suck it up, but I am not fond of the leaf and the only thing preventing me from starting a war with the aid of the village and AMAZON is the Hokage herself." Serenity nodded and turned to the blonde shinobi. The other two waited patiently, Shadow less so than Itachi.

"I'll go on the C-rank mission. If Konoha does determine my identity, I will show them the headband and remind them of Shadow-samas threat." Serenity smiled, pleased at her cousin.

"Team Panther will remain in the village. Team Raven and Fox will deliver my scroll to the Hokage. I will send a summons with you that will inform Tsunade of the importance of secrecy. Most importantly, have fun on your first C-rank as sensei's Naruto, Itachi, and may you have many more." Both nodded and left to find their teams and inform them of the Kage's decision. Shadow waited behind. "How can I help you?" Serenity asked after a brief silence.

"Should I follow them? Aura or Destiny can take my place as sensei for one mission." Serenity sighed before nodding.

"Follow them. Make sure Konoha understands the repercusions of any actions against my ninja." Shadow nodded and left for her mission. "Shadow?" The black haired girl paused at the door. "This is an S-ranked mission." Shadow nodded once and left, leaving a worrying Serenity behind her.

NININININININININININININI

Team Raven and Team Fox nodded in greeting as they waited for their sensei's. Naruto and Itachi came together, in the AMAZON masks and stopped in front of the eager teams. Fox glanced at Raven and Raven sighed before stepping forward.

"This a joint C-rank mission to the land of fire. We are to deliver a message to Hokage-sama and leave with a response. It should not be difficult, but there is a chance of an attack given that the leaf is not our ally. We will not cause unnecessary problems within the village. Fox?" Naruto took Itachi's placed in front of the eager genin.

"I am not a friend of the leaf. My team knows that the Leaf village is one of the few things that I truly hate and for good reason. If, for any reason, it seems that a shinobi or kunoichi is acting suspiciously, let myself or Raven know and we will deal with it. If we are attacked, you six are to flee the village and hide. Remeber that there will be ANBU, jounin and chunnin that rank higher than you everywhere. Do not be afraid to make a tactical retreat. Raven and I will cover you. I don't think there's anything else, so let's get started." With that Fox slipped through the archway that led into the Village Hidden in Light.

NININININININININININININ

"Halt! You are trespassing on Fire country land, Light nins. Turn back or prepare to die." Itachi sighed but stepped forward. The ninjas immediately focused on him.

"We have a mission from Kirakage-sama. Please, allow us to pass. We mean no harm to Konoha but will attack if necessary. The chunnin glanced at his teammates before turning back to Itachi and going through procedure. Finally determining that Itachi was indeed telling the truth, the man allowed the two teams to pass. The way to Konoha went without incident and they were soon outside the gate. Taking papers, to Naruto's great displeasure, was Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. The fangirls seemed to have grown up a little, but they still acted superior to everyone else. Again, Itachi stepped forward and spoke.

"We are here with a message for the Hokage from Kirakage-sama. May we pass?" Sakura looked at the blonde at her side before demanding that they remove their masks. One of the genin spoke up.

"They never take of their masks, Konoha ninja-san. Fox and Raven are always in them." Sakura glared at the brat only to have her view blocked by the Fox ninja.

"My partner and I are part of AMAZON. AMAZON ninja do not remove their masks unless commanded by Kirakage-sama. Allow us to pass, Konoha ninja." Itachi glanced at the girls facial expression. Yamanaka Ino seemed to be trying to see past the mask. Haruno Sakura on the other hand was furious.

"This is not Kira. Remove your masks or be arrested." Both AMAZON ninja shook thier heads, not willing to reveal their identity and Haruno was about to attack when a masked ninja stopped her.

"No need, Sakura. You may pass AMAZON ninja. We do not wish to start a war." Itachi nodded and thanked the copy-nin before nudgeing Naruto to follow. The younger ninja obeyed immediately and the genin glanced at each other before running to catch up to their sensei's.

"Why did you let them pass, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura snapped, irritated.

"Because they are simply completeing a mission. It is not their fault that they must follow the rules. Relax, Sakura. Those two will not hurt the Hokage." With that, Kakashi shushined away leaving a pissed pink- haired girl and a thoughtful blonde.

_I know that voice from somewhere._

NININININININININININININ

"Why was that girl's hair pink?" The question came out of nowhere and both of the team leaders glanced back at a confused Kyo. His eyes darted back and forth between his sensei, whose sides were shaking from laughter and Raven, who simply stared at him before hitting Fox hard on the head. The two AMAZON immediately bagan a one-sided bickering match. Kyo never got his question answered.

The Hokage tower had not changed, Naruto noted as he walked insideand neither had the Hokage herself. Tsunade, in a drink state, ordered them in. Itachi dropped the scroll on the desk and crossed his arms. Tsunade blonked up at the masked AMAZON before turning to read the document. Finishing, she glared at the ninja in front of her. Tsunade ordered an ANBU guard on duty to take the six genin to a nearby hotel and the youngest ninja's obeyed at Itachi's command. Tsunade then ordered that he office be cleared and she placed secrecy jutsu all around the room.

"Remove your masks." Itachi and Naruto glanced at each other before obeying. Naruto shook our his blonde hair and smiled at Tsunade. Itachi moved with more finese and removed his mask but remained silent. Tsunade studied the two nuke-nin of Konoha before smiling and pulling Naruto into a long drawn out hug. "Once again, Serenity has reminded me of her council's decision three years ago." Naruto and Itachi both stood there, not sure how to react to the woman's sudden mood change. "She also kindly stated that Iwa and Kumo are considering attacking Konoha." Again, neither ninja reacted. "What surprised me, however, was Shadow's push to support Iwa and Kumo."

Naruto sighed before speaking. "Shadow-hime sympathizes with my sentence. She too was to be executed but the judgement was lessened to banishment. She, however, actually commited a crime, whereas she doesn't believe that I did. Itachi and I agree with her. However, Shadow-sama is reluctant to call for war due to you being Hokage. She wants the council gone, Hokage-sama, and will do anything to make it happen." Tsunade nodded once and turned to look out the window.

"I made a mistake three years ago, Naruto. The entire council made a mistake and very few of the civilians recognize it. The shinobi side, however, regrets their involvement for the most part. Even the non-clan shinobi comprehend what the council did and wish to make amends with Shadow and Kirakage-dono." Itachi shrugged.

"It is not my partner or my problem, Tsunade-sama. They made the choice and Shadow-hime responded in kind. If they wish to make amends it is their duty, and not ours, to do so. Naruto-kun and I will return your reply to Kirakage-sama when you have finished it. Take the time you need. Fox, return your mask. We must return to our genin. I'd hate to see what mine are doing without me. Aita sees you as a roll model and part of her dream to follow you is to surpass you in pranks. It gets quite... irritating." Naruto laughed as he replaced his mask.

"Naruto, can you stay awhile?" The blonde Hokage waited as Naruto and Itachi seemed to have a silent discussion before Itachi frowned but bowed and left as the Raven AMAZON. Naruto stood awkwardly until Tsunade hugged him again, just as hard as the first time. This time, she held on and began to cry into Naruto's jacket. The blonde shinobi patted her back gently.

"It's okay, Obaa-chan, It's okay." Tsunade let out a shaky laugh and pulled away, holding the light ninja at arms length.

"I've asked and asked Shadow for updates on you. All she says is that you're fine. Now that you're here, I can she she was lying." Naruto cocked his head to the side. "You're an AMAZON! Do you know how much power they have in the other countries? The fact that you got to that level in three years is incredible!." Naruto laughed. "Take your mask off, brat. I want to see your face again."

"You just saw it!" Nonetheless, Naruto removed his mask and smiled at Tsunade. The two of them talked, keeping the door locked and secrecy jutsu in place. After three hours, Itachi was getting a bit anxious. He didn't like the idea that his partner was not with him in the place that he had so violently betrayed. More accurately, he didn't like the idea that Naruto was here in the place that had betrayed the blonde kid for a thing he couldn't control. Even the lowest academy student in light understood the concept of jailor versus the criminal inside.

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"Why did they call you the demon-brat, Naruto?" Serenity stood beside the dest of the Hokage, having just finished the paperwork needed for the transfer. The other two blondes froze and looked at the Karikage. _

_"That's an-"_

_"S-class secret. Yes, I heard, Tsunade. However, given that Naruto is now _my _shinobi, I need to know. Was it due to parentage or what?" The Hokage turned away._

_"What do you know about jinchurikis, Serenity-dono?" The younger kage narrowed her eyes. _

_"Jinchuriki means 'power of the human sacrifice' and all contain demons inside of them. While many exist with smaller and lesser known demons caged in side of there, there are nine main jailors. These ultimate jailors often go insane due to the rantings of their inner demon. The son of the Kazekage is the jinchuriki of grandneice of the Sandaime Raikage carries the Nibi and the Raikages brother contains the Hachibi. Other than that, I know that the Tsuchikage has two under his command and that Konoha should have one." Tsunade nodded. _

_"Konoha had a jinchuriki." Serenity's eyes widened. _

_"What happened?" Tsunade closed her eyes in sorrow, before turning to the blonde Karikage._

_"We banished him." Serenity gasped and turned to Naruto, who waited for some kind of reaction or a refusal to take him in. What he didn't expect was for Serenity to start cursing the council._

_"Those stupid idiots! Don;t they know what they've done?!" Tsunade and Naruto watched as Serenity stalked to the door and yelled out, "Panther! Get your ass in here!" The masked AMAZON rushed in looking at Serenity in worry. _

_"Karikage-sama? Is everything okay?" Shadow backed up as Serenity turned in fury. _

_"Konoha banished their jinchuriki, Shadow." Shadow's eyes followed Serenitys finger to Naruto. _

_"Then they are true fools." Shadow said coolly. "I ask for permission to train Naruto, Serenity-sama. If he is a jinchuriki, I will gladly pass on my knowledge to him. Who resides within your seal, Naruto?" The question caught the others off guard. Even Serenity had been uncertain as to the reaction of her favorite councilmember. _

_"Kyuubi no Kitsune." It was Tsunade who answered hesitantly. Shadow narrowed her eyes darkly. _

_"So the council saw him as the fox, then. I was wondering their motive for losing a young genin with a lot of potential but now I understand. I disagree vehemently, but I understand. Can you speak with Kyuubi, Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded hesitantly and Shadow grinned before looking at Serenity. _

_"Later, Shadow. We will handle that later. For now, Naruto, understand that you are a light shinobi and while a jinchuriki, you will not be treated specially in anyway. We may send you on difficult missions because of your status, but if I do that, I will send Shadow along with you. That much I promise." Naruto smiled brightly. _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

.Knock. Itachi and the six genin turned to the door and Itachi moved to open it. A Hyuuga with long brunnette hair, a two-bunned kunoichi and two green-spandex covered shinobi stood outside. Itachi narowed his eyes in warning but stepped aside so they could pass.

"Hello youthfull shinobi of Kira!" Hatori and Hitomi hid behind the other four genin, which did not go unnoticed by the Hyuuga or the kunoichi.

"You are very youthful today!" The younger version of the spandex duo spoke up.

"Thanks!" Kyo answered with a grin, earning a hit to the head from Haruka.

"Tsunade informed us that you have two genin teams and that one is under the command of an AMAZON named Fox." Itachi nodded his head. "Fox will meet them at training ground 7. We are to escort you there and help train you, on Tsunade's orders." The Hyuuga spoke with authority and the three genin looked up to the only jounin in their presence.

"What proof do you have that you are not here to kidnap my partners' students?" Three of them looked at each other in confusion but the Hyuuga, the only one of the four to personally recieve the answer spoke up.

"The light blooms from within." Itachi nodded and spoke to the three genin behind him.

"Lesson time: Agree on a signal before seperating from your teammates. If you send an outside shinobi back, send them with the message. If the message is incorrect, kill them slowly." The three young light genin nodded before Team Fox followed the foreign shinobi away.

"Your sensei is very youthful!" The jounin of the group said, speaking to them enthusiastically.

"Raven-sempai isn't our sensei, but I don't think Fox-sensei minds that he teaches us. Raven and Fox-sensei were teammates under Shadow-hime and so they work really well together. According to Fox-sensei, they almost beat her." The jounin grinned but was cut off before he could say anything else.

"Is it strange refering to your sensei's by their codename?" The girl asked.

"Not for us. See, it's a coming of age thing. The sensei, when they deem their teams ready, show the team their face. When that happens, the team of genins are automatically entered into the next chuunin exams. It depends on the sensei, though, as to how quickly the team sees their face." The team nodded before stopping at a training ground.

"By the way, my name is Hitohami Tenten." The girl said, turning to the team behind them.

"I'm Hattana Kyo. These are my teammates Kuranna Haruka and Watarrin Hitori." The two behind Kyo bowed their head at their names as they had been taught.

"My name is Hyuuga Neji." The Hyuuga said, speaking from the front of the group.

"I am the Deadly Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Guy!" The older of the spandex clad men said, standing up.

"I am the Sexy Azure Beast of Konoha, Rock Lee!" The two of them struck nice guy poses and Kyo smirked while the two girls watched on in confusion.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late." The trees seemed to part as the Fox entered the group. Neji, already having been debriefed on the foxes true identity bowed his head in true respect. His teammates gasped slightly and looked at the masked shinobi in confusion.

_Who was he?_

**_(A/N) This is a new story based on an old idea. Soon, I'll get to the main plot but for now stick with me. Understand that I will maybe add some romance between Naruto and some other character. _**

**_I have some ideas based on these pairings. _**

**_NarutoxHinata_**

**_NarutoxTenten_**

**_NarutoxTemari_**

**_NarutoxIno_**

**_As for Itachi, I doubt I'll add any romance but I can if you want me to. Just send me a message or write a review and I'll get back to you. As for my other stories, I will continue them, but I want to work on this one first. If you're curious as to what my other stories are, they are call Golden and Black and the Four Kings. You can find them on my profile. Please Read and Review. _**

**_~DarkBlackHeart~ 3_**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: There are a lot of things I would do with Naruto if I could change it, thus the reason that I do not own Naruto.

Warning: The story may get a bit gory. Don't say I didn't warn you! Also, if you don't like cursing, you might want to skip the Hidan stuff at the end.

Ch. 3 The fights that made the man

"Fox-sensei!" Kyo yelled, loud as ever. The other shinobi in the clearing watched as the energetic brat began to nag their sensei about how he was awesome enough to learn new jutsus. The masked shinobi gave the same answer to everyone of the genins arguments.

"No." Gai and Lee both entered the conversation on Kyo's side, and Hatori and Haruka joined on the Fox's side. Neji and Tenten watched in amusement. Finally, the sensei managed to stop the conversation with Kyo with a threat of sending him to train with Shadow-hime and her team of fangirls. Kyo paled and backed off, to the amusement of all.

"Fox-san, what are we doing today?" Neji asked, cutting through the silence. While Neji knew that he was speaking to Naruto, he also knew the importance of keeping his identity secret given that none of them knew what his teams reactions would be.

"Given that Maito Gai and Rock Lee are taijustu experts, I was hoping that you could give Kyo some advice and some training weights." Gai and Lee nodded enthusiastically, and Kyo grinned brightly. "Hatori and Haruka don't have a specialty so I was wondering if Tenten-san could give them a briefing on weapons experts and the advantages they have in battle." Tenten smiled and the two girls followed her off to a corner of the field.

"And myself?" Neji asked.

"Is Ichiraku's still open?" Naruto asked, to the delight of Neji who nodded with a smirk. "I do believe that I haven't had good ramen in a while." Neji and Naruto disappeared, leaving two crazy taijutsu masters and a weapons mistress alone with his team. Panther, hidden in the trees, laughed at her students casual abandonment of his team.

NININININININININININININ

"So, Neji, who else knows I'm here?" Neji slipped into the booth of Ichiraku's and ordered Miso for the both of them.

"Shikamaru, Hinata and Kazekage-sama are the only three that know." Naruto tilted his head in confusion at the last name and so Neji elaborated. "Gaara-sama came here for a meeting with the council. As you probably know, when Suna was informed that you were banished, they tore up the alliance. The village of waves and spring did the same. Anyway, the council has been begging Suna to send the Kazekage for a meeting about a new alliance. Gaara-sama finally agreed and he is here for about a week. You'll probably be summoned at some point to talk to him." Naruto nodded.

"How's the Konoha 10 doing?" Neji laughed as Naruto automatically excluded himself and the traitor from the original 12.

"Tenten and Lee, as you can see, haven't changed. Kiba has grown up a bit, and so has Akamaru. Shikamaru, if anything, has gotten lazier. He was upset when you were banished and it took about 2 months to get him to stop blaming himself. Chouji has also grown up, and Ino-Shika-Cho has gotten a lot stronger. Ino gave up her fangirlism after you left. Sino hasn't changed at all. Sakura has gotten worse, however. She hates you with a burning passion and loves 'Sasuke-kun' despite his defection. It's pretty pathetic." At each name, Naruto nodded. When Sakura's came up, Naruto just shook his head in disgust.

"And to think I used to love her."

"It was so troublesome." Shikamaru appeared behind the masked AMAZON and Neji, who just smirked at the trademark phrase. The pineapple haired shinobi sat on Naruto's other side and rested his head on his arms. "Been awhile, Fox." Naruto grinned.

"3 years, Shika." Naruto answered immediately.

"Troublesome." The trio talked for about an hour before an ANBU appeared behind Naruto and informed him that a masked shinobi called Raven was looking for him. Naruto nodded and asked what his reason was. THe ANBU gave the correct password and Naruto followed him back to the hotel, with Neji and Shikamaru behind him.

"Fox. There you are." Neji and Shikamaru watched as Naruto and the masked shinobi talked before turning to his comrades behind him.

"Raven, this is Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru." Raven inclined his head gracefully before inquiring as to the location of Naruto's team. "I left them with Maito Gai, Rock Lee and Tenten." Raven sighed.

"You left a team of genins with a group of chunnin and jounin ranked foreign ninja's, Fox?" Naruto smiled underneath the mask.

"They'll be fine. Shadow-hime was watching over them. I'm gonna go back and fetch them, see ya!" With that, Naruto shushined away, and Shikamaru and Neji followed immediately. Itachi just sighed and returned inside. His sensei and partner would be the death of him. That much, he understood.

NINININININININININININININI NIN

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"SHUT UP!" The usual bickering frome team Gai would have irritated or downright annoyed most shinobi. Team Fox, however, was taking notes. These notes were to see if they could get Fox-sensei, the always happy AMAZON jounin, irritated. Neji saw this through the Byakugan and smiled at what would surely irritate Naruto to no end. While Naruto didn't mind bushy-brows and bushy-brows sensei, no sane person would remain calm at their antics.

"Gai-sempai," Kyo began, "what is best, a prodigy or a hard-working dobe of the class?" The question immediately got Gai on a rant and the other five people in the clearing had various reactions. Lee was crying anime tears at his sensei's 'youthfulness.' Tenten and the other genin were banging their heads slightly. Kyo, however, was listening raptly.

"Please don't tell me Gai corrupted him." Naruto said, waiting the scene with worry. Neji just shrugged. Shikamaru watched with boredom.

"Fox-sensei!" Haruka called out, seeing their team leader step forward from the trees. She noticed that another foreign ninja had joined her sensei and was curious as to who he was. Her sensei didn't seem to hate him or ignore him like most Konoha shinobi. In fact, her sensei seemed to treat him much like the rest of the strange team that was currently helping teach them. Tenten seemed relatively normal until she started talking about weapons and the other two shinobi were beyond strange. Haruka and Hatori were incredibly glad that they got the weapons mistress and not the psychos in green.

"Neji-kun!" Tenten greeted warmly, running up to the Hyuuga. "Shikamaru!"

"Troublesome." The response seemed to irritate Tenten who hit him on the head.

"Fox-san, you have very youthful students." Lee said, running up to Naruto with Gai and Kyo following just as energetically. Naruto nodded and turned to Tenten asking for a status report. Haruka was much better at the heavier weapons than the shy Hatori, but Hatori had a great ability to throw accurately and to wield a katana. Naruto nodded and said his thanks to team Gai, who smiled and told him 'goodbye.' Neji patted his shoulder and a piece of paper slipped into the pocket on Naruto's shoulder. Shikamaru also waved goodbye to team Gai and followed Naruto to the hotel.

"Sensei, why is there a leaf-shinobi following us?" Naruto smiled before introducing Shikamaru as a friend. His team left it at that. Naruto opened the door to the hotel and ushered his genin inside. Shikamaru waved goodbye and left to watch clouds. As much as the lazy chunnin enjoyed Naruto's company, he could not stand having that many young and energetic shinobi around.

Inside, Raven began to lecture Fox, to the amusement of the genins, on the danger of leaving behind a team of 8-year olds with a group of higher ranked foreign shinobi. Silently, the genin watched as a bickering match between the ever stoic Raven and the always full of energy Fox began. The fight stopped when there was a knock on the door and Itachi sighed in irritation. Tsunade was taking her time with her reply, and everyone there knew it.

"Yes?" Itachi said, only to be pushed aside by a redhead wearing the Kazekage robes. Naruto began to back up, not wanting to face an irritated Gaara, but Gaara grabbed his wrist and they were gone. The genin turned to Itachi who sighed again. "Fox is fine. The Kazekage is an old friend." The genin nodded, still not certain as to the safety of the angry Suna Shinobi.

NINININININININININININININI 

"Naruto." Gaara said, leaning against the wall of his hotel room where he had taken the frightened light shinobi.

"Gaara-sama." Naruto replied only to earn a glare. "Gaara." Naruto corrected quickly.

"You have been well." The statement was true so Naruto nodded his head. "You have another Uchiha as a teammate." Gaara added and he recieved another nod. "Why did the Karikage allow this?" Naruto sighed before removing his mask.

"I was a student of Shadow-hime when Itachi and his partner came to take me with them."

_XXFlashbackXX_

_Kisame and Itachi stood across from a ninja in a panther mask and Naruto who stood behind her. Itachi noticed the distinct lack of nerves on Naruto's part and glared at the kunoichi who gave him confidence. The councilmember stared back before moving. A flash of light was the only warning before Kisame fell to the ground, dead. Itachi narrowed his eyes and activated his sharingan. She was dangerous. _

_Shadow moved again and Itachi barely managed to block her katana with a kunai before she moved again. Itachi was completely on the defensive before black chains rose from the ground and captured him. __**Kuran Art: Shadow chain jutsu. **__The jutsu caught Itachi off guard and he was completely trapped. He had no idea that this girl before him, a loyal AMAZON, was a member of the Kuran family. A member of the main branch, no less. _

_"That, Naruto, was me going all out. Soon, you will be able to follow my movements. Eventually, you'll be able to match my speeds and maybe one day surpass my speeds. The again, I only know one Shinobi who is faster than I am and she is on the council." Naruto rolled hos eyes at her arrogance. _

_**Kochiyose no jutsu: Kellin Panther. **__A panther appeared in front of them and went to fetch Effine, the torture expert for the AMAZONs. Effine, wearing the mask of snake when in a mission, was incredibly good at getting answers with little to no pain. Itachi paled slightly at the name and began to struggle subtlely. Effine appeared and began to work on the arrogant Uchiha in front of her. After about fifteen minutes, the fiery redhead turned to Shadow. _

_"He's ready to talk." Shadow nodded and stepped forward. _

_"Why did you join Akatsuki?" Itachi narrowed his eyes but answered._

_"The leader gave me no choice. It was either join or die." Shadow glanced at the ninja beside her who nodded her head. He was telling the truth._

_"Why did you kill the Uchiha clan?" Itachi lowered his head. _

_"They were going to try to overthrow the Sandaime which would start the fourth great ninja war. I was following Danzo-sama's orders." Again, Effine nodded. _

_"Why did you leave your brother alive?" Itachi closed his eyes. _

_"So he could grow strong." _

_"Where do your loyalties lie now, Uchiha Itachi?" Itachi's eyes opened and scrutinized Shadow. He couldn't move with the chains surrounding him and knew that the wrong answer would end his life. However, a lie would also get him killed. Effine and Shadow hated being lied to. _

_"I have no loyalties to anyone." Shadow glanced at Effine who nodded her head in amusement. _

_"If I release you, will you try to return to Akatsuki?" Itachi shook his head. It wasn't a place he enjoyed. Hidan and Kakuzu were arrogant. Deidara was irritating and Sasori had a temper. Kisame was alright, if a bit loud, but now he was dead. Tobi, who hid his true identity, was beyond irritating no matter what personna he had. Konan was blinded by her loyalty to Pein and Pein thought himself a god. Itachi knew he could kill any of them alone save Tobi. _

_"If I release you, will you try to attack my student?" Again, Itachi shook his head negatively. "Alright, I'm going to give you a choice. I can kill you now and make it painless. I can take you to the Karikage and she can give you your punishment. I can return you to Konoha, or I can take you on as a student with the Karikage's permission." Itachi and Naruto looked at her in shock. _

_"Shadow-sensei, why are you offering to take him as a student. Kira has the sharingan. We don't need another." Shadow smiled at her student before answering. _

_"Yes. We have an Uchiha with us. However, Uchiha Itachi is a name feared around all the countries. Our other Uchiha is not well known and while strong, she is a medic nin first. Itachi would be a combat nin, and under my direct command. Serenity-sama would have final say but people fear me more so the Serenity-sama. She is an amazing leader but few have actually seen her fight. While she is stronger than I am, I have been seen fight and have a reputation for being unbeatable. With an Uchiha as a student, that reputation will grow whoch will help in the long run."_

_Naruto nodded in understanding and both of them turned to the Uchiha who was thinking over the options. Being the Black Panther's student would not hurt and he did not have anything against Naruto-kun. However, by joining the light, he put the country at risk from his foolish little brother and the snake. Given that Shadow had easily defeated two S-class criminals without help, he had no doubt she could handle Orochimaru. _

_"I'll become your student." Shadow smiled and nodded. _

_"Then I have only one condition." Itachi tilted his head. "You learn to not rely on your sharingan." Itachi narrowed his eyes but nodded. Shadow grinned sadistically and walked up to the Uchiha. _

_"You're going to hate me for this. __**Fuuin style: Bloodline seal**__" Itachi hissed in anger. Shadow grinned and Naruto snickered. This was gonna be fun!_

_XXFlashback endXX_

"After Shadow-hime sealed the sharingan, Itachi, Shadow and I went to the Karikage, who agreed that the Uchiha should be Shadows student and sent us away for a 2 month training trip. Itachi slowly got used to fighting without the Sharingan. About a month and a half in, we ran into Orochimaru and Kabuto. Sasuke wasn't with them.

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"Well well well... If it isn't the missing Akatsuki member and Naruto-kun." Orochimaru hissed, ignoring the presence of the masked panther. _

_"You are in our way." Itachi said, voice dripping with distaste. He used the glare that so many Uchiha's had mastered to send his hatred out towards Kabuto and Orochimaru. Neither flinched, but Orochimaru noted the distinct lack of the sharingan. _

_"You shouldn't underestimate your opponents, Uchiha Itachi. If you wish to live, activate your Sharingan." Shadow stepped forward. _

_"He can't, Orochimaru-san." Itachi glared at his sensei who glared right back._

_"What do you mean, girl?" Shadow turned towards the snake. _

_"I mean that I sealed the sharingan. Uchiha Itachi can no longer use his bloodline limit." Orochimaru laughed but Kabuto seemed curious. _

_"Uchiha Itachi, prodigy of the Uchiha clan, who singlehandedly massacred his entire family allowed his sharingan to be sealed by a girl? I hardly think so, little panther." Shadow narrowed her eyes in anger before removing her mask. She was one of the few AMAZONs who could remove their masks without repercussions. _

_"You are Shadow-hime, Panther Princess and second member of the council four." Kabuto began, remembering the information he gathered. "You are the third top shinobi in the light underneath Angel-hime and Serenity-sama. According to known history, they are the only two living shinobi that have bested you in combat." Shadow nodded, with a grin._

_"As you can see, I am not just a girl. Now, as Itachi so kindly noted, you are in my way, Orochimaru. Please move." Orochimaru backed off, as did Kabuto. Shadow smiled and inclined her head. WIth that, her team took off and Shadow replaced her mask. "My little genin, we have a follower. Illimanate them." Itachi glared at the nickname for him and Naruto but turned and destroyed the spy Orochimaru and Kabuto had sent. _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

"Itachi and I really didn't get along at first. But we learned to work together. Shadow started calling us 'my little genins' within that training period. Now, whenever someone hears 'my little genins' from Shadow-hime they know exactly who shes refering to. But I digress. After Itachi and I returned from our training mission, Serenity-sama had us tested against three jounin each. Shadow watched with curiousity, already knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Without the Sharingan, Itachi had to learn to analyze like a normal shinobi. But he lived up to his title as 'prodigy' and excelled easily through the training regimen Shadow put us through. So, during the fight, Itachi and I demolished our opponents. Mostly, it was because Itachi and I learned to work as a team."

Gaara nodded and motioned for the blonde to continue.

"After that, Serenity-sama promoted us to light jounin. Before, Itachi had been a chunnin to his disgust and I was a genin like before. Shadow and Karikage-sama both agreed that we made a great team and Shadow offered to continue teaching us. See, most of the time, in light, when a person becomes a jounin they stop learning from their designated senseis. Occasionally, if a sensei really likes a team, that sensei will remain the team lead and continue the kids' education. Itachi and I agreed. After a few more months, Shadow and Serenity-sama ordered us to fight Shadow-hime. At this point, Itachi and I were both in the top 20 jounins in light. Against Shadow-hime, we stood no chance."

_XXFlashbackXX_

_Shadow smiled at Itachi and Naruto who stood opposite her. Her eyes sparkled emerald, like always, but she had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. Itachi knew that Shadow was incredibly dangerous when taking a fight seriously and began to make handsigns that only Naruto would understand. Both Itachi and Naruto had predicted something like this would happen so they prepared in advance. _

_Shadow moved, a flash of light as she unsheathed her katana was the only warning Itachi got before she moved to attack him. He was forced backwards and Naruto took that moment to attack from behind. _

_**"Wind style: Raging Bullet" **__Shadow jumped up and out of the way, but the jutsu followed her and she grinned brightly. _

_**"Fire style: Ashy grave" **__The fire that flew from her fingertips met the wind and exploded. Naruto and Itachi were temporarily blinded and Shadow took the opportunity to take out Naruto. "Kill." The word echoed and Naruto sighed but jumped out of the fight. Itachi had taken the oppurtunity to sneak behind Shadow and nearly managed to earn a 'kill' when Shadow spun and caught his katana with hers. She slid her hilt down and grabbed his wrist, throwing him over her shoulder and onto the ground. With that, Shadow touched her sword to his throat and said "kill." Itachi stood and Naruto moved to join them. _

_"Welcome to the AMAZON ranks, my little genin. You did well." Serenity laughed as she jumped down to join them holding two masks. _

_"Uchiha Itachi, you will be known when in your mask as Raven. When out of your mask, you have earned the nickname of the Uchiha of Destruction. As is tradition when entering the AMAZON, you have had a weapon made for you. This blade, while it will kill any who try to take it from you, will channel your chakra. Use it well." Serenity handed Itachi a black katana with golden flames on the hilt. The kanji read __**Raven's song. **__Itachi smiled a rare smile before kneeling to his kage and uttering an oath of servitude to her. _

_"Also, before I forget, you have earned back your sharingan. Use it with discretion. __**Kai!**__" The words unsealed the bloodline seal that stopped Itachi from using his bloodline. Nearly immediately, Itachi's eyes flickered red before returning to onyx and he let out a sigh of relief. Shadow smirked and then stepped back._

_"Uzumaki Naruto, you will be known when in your mask as Fox. When you remove the mask, you have earned the title of Golden Flight. Your weapon, Naruto, is this. Serenity removed two gloves from her pocket and handing them to Naruto. They turn into bracelets that will stay on your wrists." Serenity demonstrated. "The gloves extend into the claws of a Fox when chakra is added." Naruto grinned and examined the gloves that had extended claws. He removed chakra and they retreated to bracelets that read __**Foxes Flight**__. He too knelt and swore his loyalty to Serenity. _

_"Naru, you've done well." Shadow said with a grin. All three of them looked at the Karikage for further instructions. _

_"As AMAZONs work in pairs, I will give you two your teams. Originally, I planned to pair Naruto and Shadow together. Now, it seems that I will need to give Shadow a different teammate. Raven and Fox, you two are now teammates. Work well and serve me well." _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

"Itachi and I became an excellent team and quickly rose through the ranks. We often were paired with Shadow on missions. She never stopped training us. We were soon able to beat just about any opponent that went against us. Together, we even managed to beat Aura-hime and Desiny-hime. About 2 years after Itachi joined and about 2 and a half years after I joined, we were sent on a mission with Shadow. We were up against the Akatsuki. Mainly, two members called Hidan and Kakuzu, the immortal duo."

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"I hate to send you on this mission Naruto, and you Itachi, but you two are the best team we have. Kakuzu and Hidan have managed to obliterate four teams of AMAZON ninja. Those eight were good at what they do and they couldn't even kill one. Shadow and Destiny will accompany you. I would like to send Aura but I don't want to risk three council members on one mission. This is an AMAZON mission. Please come back alive." Naruto and Itachi nodded before taking off to the gates where their sensei and the other councilmember waited. _

_"Itachi, what do you know about our opponents?" Shadow asked, taking to the trees. Itachi briefed them as quickly as possible but when he came to Hidan, Shadow hissed. _

_"He's a jashinist?" Shadow asked, turning to look at Itachi who nodded. "Alright, here's the plan. I'm gonna take Hidan. He wont be killed by normal means. Destiny, you're my backup. Itachi, Naru, you two take the other one. When you've finished, return immediately." The team nodded and Shadow continued to to curse her luck. It's not that she didn'thave faith in her abilities. It was that she knew Hidan. And they hated each other. _

_"We're here. Approach with caution." Shadow stepped into the light, and faced her least favorite cousin. He grinned when he saw the AMAZON ninja. _

_"Hey fucking Kakuzu, we've got even more fucking sacrifices for Jashin-sama." Shadow sighed and removed her mask. _

_"Hello, Hidan." Hidan yelled out a roar and attacked._

**_(A/N)_**

**_So, I'm really enjoying writing this story which is why I've had so many updates so quickly. Anyway, if you have anything to say, please review. _**

**_That's all. _**

**_~DarkBlackHeart~ 3_**


	4. Chapter 4

Warning: Maybe a bit of violence but not much

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto but if I did...

Chapter 4: Naruto and the Council

The battle between Hidan and Shadow-hime lasted longer than 30 minutes. Neither Kakuzu nor the rest of our team interfered. For anyone but Shadow-sama, fighting Hidan would have been suicide. She managed to avoid his scythe as much as possible. After watching for about 30 minutes, Itachi and I began our own battle with Kakuzu."

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"It will be fun to kill you and gain your bounty, Raven. You are quite well known just by your mask." Raven inclined his head but did not speak for fear of being recognized. "Let us begin, AMAZON ninja. Your country has given me huge bounties. For that and the bounty I will soon gain, I thank you." Itachi moved, removing __**Ravens song **__from his sheath. Naruto followed and channeled chakra into __**Foxes Flight**__. _

_"You have interesting weapons." Kakuzu commented, jumping away from a slice from the katana and avoiding a swipe from the claws. The Akatsuki attacked Naruto, putting him on the defensive. Itachi snuck behind and hit Kakuzu directly in the heart. Neither Itachi nor Naruto lowered their guard as Kakuzu 'died.' Seeing the guise wasn't working, Kakuzu stood and narrowed his eyes at the two ninja. _

_Naruto grinned. "Eight AMAZON ninja were killed. We aren't about to underestimate you." Kakuzu sighed but nodded at the wisdom of the team in front of him. He made a handsign and Itachi yelled out a warning. Naruto jumped back as five monsters appeared. One of them almost immediately collapsed. Naruto and Itachi knew that one of the hearts was gone. _

_"Four more to go." Itachi muttered before attacking one with his unnatural speed. Naruto followed his partners lead and attacked a second one. Itachi easily dispatched his, given that the element it had covered was wind. Naruto, on the other hand, struggled immensly with the fire one. His arm came out seared as Itachi interfered. Jumping back, Naruto attacked the lightning one and killed it quickly. Kakuzu cursed and called the other two back. Naruto and Itachi jumped in front of the ninja as black tendrels came out. _

_"Fox!" The warning came to late. Earth shattered from underneath Naruto and pierced his leg and his lower chest. Naruto fell with a cry and Kakuzu moved to end him, forgetting momentarily about Itachi. Itachi made a jutsu as quickly as possible. __**Fire Style: Phoenix Blossom.**__ The jutsu attacked the earth heart and ended it. Kakuzu jumped back, anticipating a final jutsu. Instead, Itachi moved to his partners side. _

_**Earth style: Protective barrier. **__Naruto was encased in an earth barrier. Itachi panted and turned to the enemy ninja. "Let's end this quickly." Kakuzu nodded and made a hand signal, hardening his body. Itachi grinned and activated his sharingan. Making the handsigns for Kakashi's signature assassination jutsu. Realizing the danger too late, Kakuzu didn't move fast enough. _

_**"Chidori: A thousand birds" **__Kakuzu cursed but collapsed, dead. Itachi felt the pulse and nodded before collapsing out of breath. "Shit. I used too much chakra." Inside the barrier, Naruto was trying to stop the bleeding. It was working but slowly. Shadow and Destiny ran up from the area that they were fighting in and Shadow released Itachi's barrier while Destiny ran to Itachi and handed him a soldier pill. Shadow looked worse for the wear as well, but she had no blood on her, nor any visible wounds. _

_"Dolphin! Get over here!" Destiny turned and ran to Fox. She shook her blonde hair out of her face and began to do her best to heal him. "We need to get back to the village. Fox's injury is critical." The others nodded and rushed to help._

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

"I was in critical for awhile and the only things keeping me alive where Kyuubi and Destiny-sama. By the time we got to the hospital, I really needed a blood transfusion. That was when I discovered that Serenity was my blood cousin. Destiny-hime tested Serenity's blood to make sure it was safe for me and figured that interesting tidbit at the same time. That was the hardest mission Itachi and I went on. Since then, Serenity-sama has given us various assassinations and I just recently acquired a genin team. So... yeah..." Naruto ended and Gaara nodded once.

"I will meet your team." Naruto sighed but agreed with the condition that Gaara did not reveal his identity to the genin. Gaara agreed and after Naruto replaced his mask, they returned to the hotel room.

The genin jumped back in alarm as the Kazekage and Fox returned. The redhead was much less angry and Fox seemed less alarmed at his presence.

"Hatori, Kyo, Haruka, I'd like to introduce you to Kazekage-sama. Gaara-sama, this is my genin team." Gaara nodded politely at them.

"Do not bother with formalities when in private. Call me Gaara." Naruto smirked under the mask.

"Whatever you say, Gaara-sama." Gaara glared at the masked shinobi and silently commanded the sand to move. Naruto, sensing danger, jumped behind his partner who sighed in irritation. Gaara politely asked Itachi to move and he nodded, informing his team of genins to follow him. They agreed willingly and disappeared.

"Fox, you will refer to me as Gaara." Fox laughed and scratched his head a bit nervously.

"Whatever you say, Gaara." The redhead nodded and turned.

"What have you learned from your sensei?" The genin glanced at each other before Kyo went through their training regimen. To most, it would seem over the top, but Gaara and Naruto understood that any students of a jinchuriki would be at risk right now. After an hour of civil conversation, an ANBU appeared and informed Gaara he was wanted by the council. Gaara nodded and left and Naruto smiled and took his team to training.

NININININININININININININ

"The council has summoned the AMAZON ninja and their teams." The ANBU informed the irritated Itachi.

"At 7 am?" Itachi answered icily. The ANBU nodded and reached for his weapon, sensing the masked nins killer intent. Naruto grabbed Itachis arm and grinned.

"Now now, don't kill the messenger." Itachi nodded and sighed.

"We will come, but our genin will not. There is a reason they have not been exposed to politics yet and it will remain that way." Naruto nodded and informed the genins of the situation and gave them a new code phrase. He darted out past the ANBU and led the way. The ANBU and Itachi followed closely behind. Outside the council chambers Naruto halted and the ANBU took the lead.

"Tsunade-sama, I have the ninja you asked for." The blonde kage nodded and the council visibly stirred.

"We asked for the genin as well." One council-member said haughtily. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Our genin are not coming. They do not need to be in such a critical meeting, especially at such a young age. One wrong word between Light and Leaf will cause a war. We do not wish for our genin to make such a mistake." Itachi said, stepping forward slightly. Gaara, in a gust of sand, appeared beside the two AMAZON ninja. His guards were left behind as usual.

"The council wishes to make amends with your Shadow." Another civilian spoke up.

"Then come and formally apologize to her and her student, Uzumaki Naruto." The civilian narrowed his eyes.

"Why would we apologize to that demon?" The civilian asked with anger. He froze however when Gaara growled.

"This is the arrogance of the leaf!" The kazekage snapped, and the entire council averted their attention from the AMAZON. "This is the reason we cut ties." Itachi nodded.

"I agree. With this attitude, Shadow-hime will repeat her actions three years ago and end anothers life. Naruto-sama is a respected warrior of the light and her favored student. Do not insult him in our presence." The civilian turned to his partner, hoping for a little support.

"I cannot help but notice your partner has yet to speak. Surely he agrees with me." Naruto let out a barking laugh and quickly altered his voice with chakra.

"Naruto-sama is not a demon." With that, the usually loud-mouthed shinobi backed off earning glares from the civilians. Hiashi Hyuuga stood and formally bowed to the ninja, glaring at the civilians.

"We mean no disrespect to Shadow-sama or her student. The council would really like to make amends with Shadow-sama." Itachi sighed.

"You expect to make amends with Shadow while insulting a student of hers? Perhaps you and your fellow council-members fail to realize that as long as Naruto-sama is seen as a 'demon' in the leaf, the best that our nations can be is nuetral. Whether the leaf realizes it or not, Shadow-hime wants this council destroyed for the very attitude you fail to realize is a tragically misplaced blame. Be grateful that we are not at war. If I may speak out of turn and give some advice, Hyuuga?" Hiashi nodded, tightlipped.

Gaara grinned and Tsunade silently flinched. Itachi was not one to hold back and Naruto would not stop his partner from letting loose.

"Look into Naruto-sama's past. Check his medical files and his hospital history. Check with the villagers and ask how they treated the demon brat. Put yourself in a five-year old body and with a five-year old mind and then, when your done, thank whatever god that you worship that Naruto-sama has a pure heart and a strong-will. Because if he didn't, no one would be left to stop Naruto-sama from fading into obscurity and willing releasing his body to the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Itachi stepped back, in line with his partner. Tsunade and Gaara smiled at the AMAZON ninja.

"And you, Fox? What advice would you give?" It was Gaara who asked, shocking the ninja and Naruto, who glared at his powerful friend.

"None. The leaf is not worthy of Shadow-sama's aid." Naruto said, never turning away from the Kazekage, who smirked viciously.

"And how can you speak for your superior, boy?" A councilmember asked. Naruto sighed but resigned himself to joining the convesation. Tsunade and Itachi both watched him with pity. They knew that Naruto hated this council.

"Because I have worked with her as a subordinate. She often leads AMAZON missions with different teams, including the partnership with myself and Raven. She hates the leaf council. There is no doubt." Naruto stated emotionlessly, hiding the pain.

"But you do not know that she would not forgive us?" The councilmember countered. Itachi made a handsign. _We are on Naruto's team. _Naruto nodded, understanding the hidden message.

"I am a student of hers. I know very well her opinion of the leaf." Gaara and Tsunade glanced at Itachi, having noticed the barely perceptable handsigns. Itachi, noticing their stares, nodded his head slightly. Tsunade bared her teeth but sighed. Gaara too was not happy with the developments of this meeting.

"So you know the demon brat." Naruto turned to yet another villager who dared insult him.

"Yes." The villager was not happy with the answer and began to press for answers. Naruto became more and more irritated and Itachi was about to interfere when the doors slammed open. Shadow stood there, followed by the worried Sand siblings who had been searching for their brother.

"Hello council members..."

NINININININININININININININI N

"Well that could have gone better." Tsunade commented. Shadow glared at her angrily. Naruto, in the presence of the few in the village who knew his identity, wore no mask. Itachi remained masked, due to the presence of Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru. Gaara, Temari and Kankurou stood to the side. The sand siblings were watching Naruto and Itachi interact with Shadow. It was clear that the three of them had a heirarchy. Shadow was the captain, without a doubt in charge. Itachi and Naruto seemed to switch of command and had a kind of non-verbal communication. Both knew what the other would do and would cover for him. Everyone could see why Shadow thought so highly of this team.

"Tsunade-sama, I want your council gone." Shadow hissed in irritation, clearly annoyed with the meeting. The council had the audacity to ask for forgiveness and then insult Naruto. If Itachi and Naruto hadn't been there, blood would have been shed. Thankfully, Itachi reminded her that they didn't want to start a war... Yet.

"I agree." Gaara said, his monotone voice filling the room. Tsunade sighed and leaned against her desk.

"How?" The question was valid. Shadow's answer, however, was simple.

"Kill the civilians. Make it seem like an 'accident.' Or, use a loyal ANBU who would do anything for the village and have him wipe the civilian council, and the ignorant members of the ninja council, out." Gaara and Tsunade made a mental note not to piss this girl off.

"That's impractical, Shadow-hime." Naruto said, glancing at her. "Someone would see past it, like Danzo, and then there'd be a coup and the light would be at war." Shadow glared at the blonde who merely grinned back.

"Then what do you recommend?" Shadow asked snidely.

"Have another meeting and mention that you've calmed down and are considering peace. Get the council complacent and then reveal my identity and my position as a high ranked AMAZON and a genin sensei. If they attack, kill them. If they try to attack my genin, kill them, and if they verbally attack me, kill them. No matter what, they end up dead and we end up happy." The Konoha and Suna ninjas considered it before Gaara spoke up.

"Sand will gladly kill any members of the council that try to kill Naruto. After all, Suna is an ally with Light." Tsunade sighed but nodded.

"Very well. The hour long recess period is up and we have to return anyway. We might as well try it. Should I send some ANBU to guard your teams genin?" Shikamaru spoke up.

"No need. As troublesome as it might be, I will watch them." Neji agreed with the lazy genius and they disappeared after getting the phrase from Itachi and Naruto.

NINININININININININININI

"I am willing to consider peace." Shadow said, though her tone was still slightly irritated. Hyuuga Hiashi narrowed his eyes, as did a few other suspicious ninja clan heads. Aburame Shibi, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Chouza and Nara Shikaku were among them, wondering what the Kira ninjas gameplan was.

"Thats wonderful!" An ignorant civilian said, jumping up. "Let's make a treaty immediately." Shadow shook her head.

"Not quite yet. Many of you know this, but my student Naruto is advancing quickly through the ranks. Before I agree to any kind of pact, I need Konohagakures words that no ninja or missing ninja hired by the leaf will attack him." The civilians grumbled, but Shikaku and the rest of the ninja agreed immediately.

"I would like to see your student sometime, Shadow-san, to see how much he's grown." The obvious lead in caused Shadow to grin a sinister smile. The ninja in the council knew immediately what was about to happen and took a step back.

"Do we have an agreement, civilian council?" Himura nodded and Koharu and Danzo also agreed. "Then let's test it. Naru, remove your mask." The civilians backed up as Naruto removed his fox mask and turned to face the council. Almost immediately, the council began protesting his ability to remain in the leaf. Shadow grinned and turned to Tsunade. The ninja's watched with horror, knowing they could not stop this councilmember from declaring war with the full support of the Karikage.

"At this point, we have two options." Tsunade nodded warily. "One, I can declare war immediately for violating an agreement, written or not written. Or two, I can kill those who just spoke against my student and try again. The option is yours, Hokage-sama." Tsunade almost immediately chose the second option and the three AMAZON began the massacre. Few of the leaf nnja tried to interfere and those that did died in the slaughter. Danzo was spared simply because he hadn't voiced his disgust, to Shadow's dismay. Koharu and Himura on the other hand, were among the civilian casualties.

"War is unpleasant. For everyone. This option was ideal. As long as you are the Hokage, Light will not attack. However, the instant one person makes a wrong move," Shadow glared at Danzo, "Light will declare war on the leaf and the leaf will fall at the combined inslaught of Light, Rock and Cloud. With that, I bid you goodbye. Naru, replace your mask. You and Raven have genin teams to look after. I'm headed off. See ya!" Shadow disappeared and Naruto obeyed her command and replaced his mask before he said his goodbyes and left. The remaining councilmembers, almost all shinobi, looked at the scene in distaste.

"It needed to be done." Hiashi stated boldly and Inuzuka Tsume agreed, along with most of the council. A few remained silent but knew better than to speak up now. Shadow had shown her legendary sadistic side, and would do so again. Naruto was her student, and she was very protective of him.

NININININININININININININI

"That was fun." Naruto said, walking calmly beside his teammate.

"I bet, if you wanted back in Konoha, the council would reinstate you, since most of the council are shinobis again." Naruto stopped and stared at Itachi, silently sending the message 'are you crazy?' Itachi just shrugged and kept watching, and Naruto caught back up.

"How's your team doing?" Naruto asked, his eyes on the Hokage monument. Itachi followed his gaze and placed a hand on Foxes shoulder. Fox smiled and Itachi nodded, guessing at the expression behind the mask.

"My team will crush yours. They excel at genjutsu, especially Aurora. Aita has skill in ninjutsu and Hitari will be a taijutsu mistress very soon." Naruto snickered slightly at the challenge. Itachi may not have the typical Uchiha arrogance he did have the competitive spirit.

"I'll take you up on that." Itachi and Naruto headed to the hotel where the two teams waited with Neji and Shikamaru. The girl waiting inside, however, surprised Naruto and Itachi. Hyuuga Hinata had changed, a lot. Her stutter was gone and she talked with confidence. She clearly broke out of her shell and when the two entered, Hinata smiled at Naruto and his partner.

"Hello, Fox-kun." Naruto grinned at Hinata and glanced at his partner.

"Go. I'll take care of the brats." Naruto smiled and gestured for Hinata to follow him. Neji and Shikamaru glanced at each other and decided together to wait with the 6 8-year old ninjas.

NINININININININININININININI N

"It's still stunning up here." Naruto said, standing on the fourth Hokage's head- his _father's _head. Hinata smiled, her hair blowing softly in the wind and her pupil-less eyes sparkling with emotion.

"When I found out, I was furious." Hinata said, eyes on her former flame. "I wanted to go with you, or at least say goodbye, but the AMAZON ninja and the Karikage left before I could ask. Most of the Konoha 12 had similar feelings. Kiba and Lee both wanted to bash the heads of the council-members in. Shino _yelled _when he found out. Shikamaru blamed himself and wouldn't come out and Chouji started training harder and longer and nearly killed himself. TenTen threatened the council with her weapons. Gai, Asuma and Kurenai, well, they didn't take it well. The only three that didn't care were Yamanaka, Haruno and Hatake. Yamanaka eventually got better, but it took Shikamaru losing his temper with her and yelling before she got it. Hatake and Haruno only cared about the Uchiha. Asuma punched Hatake after Hatake went off on you. But Sakura got it the worst. After Haruno's mom died during the council meeting, she went around the village and told everyone you were gone. Anko heard her and the aftermath wasn't pretty. To this day, if banshee sees a snake, she runs the other way."

Naruto smiled slightly, still looking out over the village. His face was covered but Hinata activated her Byakugan so she could see him. "Hinata-chan, you've changed." The words caused Hinata to smile.

"I had to. The day you were banished I realized that I was truly weak and it sickened me. I was furious that there wasn't anything I could do to help you and so I started to train. Neji-nii and Hokage-sama were great helps and I've become a great medic-nin and combat-nin and in certain aspects of the Gentle Fist style, I've surpassed Neji-nii." Naruto nodded.

"How's Kiba?" Hinata stopped talking and looked at Naruto before blushing.

"You noticed?"

"Yeah. Raven and I walked passed as you and Kiba were on a date. He made the observation that you looked cute together, and I agree." Hinata smiled.

"We're engaged." Hinata said, eyes on her former crush. "He asked for father's blessing and father granted it."

"Congratulations." The response caused Hinata to grin before lowering her head to the ground. The two of them hadn't really talked before and now that Naruto hadn't been here for years, Hinata didn't know how to act around him.

"I loved you." The words flew out and Hinata covered her mouth. Naruto didn't turn but laughed.

"I know." The response made Hinata turn a brighter crimson. "You were a friend to me. But all I could think about then was Sakura this and Sakura that. Besides, you have Kiba now. And I live somewhere different, worlds away. You're happy, Hinata-chan?" Hinata closed her eyes and nodded and Naruto grinned under his mask. "And you love Kiba, don't you?" Again, Hinata nodded. "Then I wish you both happiness. Hope you like Dog-breath." The joke caused Hinata to hit him and laugh and the two started to talk about their lives. The sun started to set when the two left each other and Naruto smiled as she left. _Once, Hinata-chan, I loved you too. _

_**(A/N) Sorry to HinaXNaru fans but there are too many and my fic is cliche enough. Which leads to the plotline. I'm not gonna add much romance to the fic but I do want a main pairing. Obviously, Hinata is out for Naruto, but if you want another girl for Naru, then review. Also, I want to move the plot onto the war that will happen. I'm thinking of having Light completely nuetral until the enemy, (not gonna say who yet) attacks Light. If you want something else, please let me know. **_


	5. Chapter 5

Warning: This will be a war story but I probably wont get into details with fights since I can't read fight scenes.

Disclaimer: I would own Naruto if it went up for sale but I guess the author like it too much. _Sigh_

Chapter 5: The snake and the panther

Naruto relaxed as he, Itachi and the six genin passed through the gateway. The days in the leaf had been filled with peace treaty after peace treaty being denied by Shadow. Itachi and Naruto were forced to sit through it because Naruto was directly involved, which left the six young nins with foreign ninjas, out-ranking and out-powering all of them. Finally, Shadow settled on a non-agression pact before the 9 ninja's left town. About 2 days ago, Shadow darted off, sensing that her own genin team was nearby which left the Uchiha and Uzumaki duo with the six brats.

"Finally!" Kyo yelled, running forward and past the gate guards who glanced at the kid before turning to the two sensei's who watched with a bit of irritation.

"Welcome home, Fox, Raven." The greeter said, a grin on his face as he studied the two.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." Naruto replied with a bright grin hidden behind his mask. A week after Naruto's change from Konoha to Kira, Umino Iruka appeared on the light's doorstep. Guards, furious with the fact that a Konoha shinobi dared enter their land, took him straight to Serenity, who happened to be with the newly instated Naruto.

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"Iruka-sensei?" The blonde asked in confusion, and Serenity turned to her newest shinobi._

_"You know this man, Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded, looking at his facorite and arguably only sensei. _

_"Yeah. He's Umino Iruka from Konoha. He was my sensei at the academy and he taught me some awesome things." Naruto explained with a bit more vigor than he had for the past few days. _

_"Very well. Fetch Effine, Falcon. I would like to know if he's lying to me." The AMAZON left and Iruka met the beautiful Kage's eyes. She did not blink but studied him with her cerulean eyes so similar to her new charge. The door opened and the fiery Effine entered, her head held high and eyes sparkling with some hidden amusement. _

_"Speak, Umino Iruka, and understand that if you lie, you will not enjoy the punishment." Iruka nodded before talking. _

_"Tsunade-sama came to me and told me of the councils decision to banish Naruto. At first, I thought she was testing me, but she denied it and told me that Naruto really was gone. So, I asked who she sent with you. See, even banished ninja's from Konoha have the right to take one other fellow ninja with them, if that person agrees. She told me that the council didn't give you the option. And so, I asked her if I could go with you as that person and she said yes and so here I am." Effine nodded. He wasn't lying to them._

_"Very well Umino Iruka-san. I will inform Tsunade of your change in status. You will have the traditional AMAZON guard and probationary you try to betray us, you will regret it." And so, Umino Iruka became a chuunin for the light village. _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

Itachi and Naruto dissmissed the teams before talking to the familiar guard about foreign affairs that they missed on their journey back.

"Rock and Cloud made their first attack against Sand, which surprised everyone." The chuunin began, running a hand on his scar. "The Kazekage was in the leaf and so I guess the invading forces thought it'd be an easy win. They were wrong and they were driven out with heavy losses and started a war with a village that would have been nuetral." Naruto and Itachi continued talking about the implications when a familiar AMAZON appeared.

"We've been summoned." Panther said before turning and heading towards the tower. The two AMAZON followed after a promise between Naruto and Iruka to catch up. Serenity waited at the tower, reclining against her desk and staring out the window.

"Fox, Raven, Panther. You three have a mission and your genin teams will be under Destiny, Aura and Effine until you returm." Itachi and Naruto looked at each other worriedly. "Oto has issued a request for an alliance. Let them down gently that we will absolutely remain nuetral in this war, which means no alliances. We've already cut the one with Suna, though we kept a non-aggression pact and will send supplies upon request. While that is unusual, the Kazekage understood our position. The five great nations will undoubtedly begin the next Great Ninja War and I want no part. Inform the Otokage that you, Shadow, are my voice. I will send a message confirming that. Uchiha, make absolutely certain not to reveal your face on Oto's land. Orochimaru can be reasonable when it suits him. Your brother, on the other hand, cannot. You have two weeks. Go."

The Ninja's nodded and took off, Shadow taking point and Naruto and Itachi flanking her. The journey would not be fun, they all mused. Shadow and Itachi glaced at the unusually silent Fox that ran beside them. Shadow stopped after an hour's worth of silence and turned to her student.

"Uchiha Sasuke is Orochimaru's apprentice." Itachi and Naruto stared at her though the masks covered up the 'no duh' expression that Naruto wore. "Why Serenity-sama elected to send us is beyond me because of that fact. Itachi is his brother. He's the reason Naruto got banished and I frankly hate him. Still, the Karikage gave us a job. We may hate it but its our mission. Don't lose your temper, Naru and don't go soft 'cause of the blood you share. Remember, the kid is an enemy. All other nations are enemies right now. Now, let's go. We've got a diplopatic mission to do." Naruto and Itachi nodded and followed her, though they both were thinking over her words.

NINININININININININININI

"Sasuke-kun, Kabuto, you will accompany me to the meeting between the AMAZON ninja of the light. " Sasuke sneered but agreed and Kabuto nodded. Together, the three of them headed towards the pre-arranged meeting zone.

Three ninja waited, all hidden behind traditional AMAZON masks. Fox, Orochimaru noted, figited more than the other two. Raven seemed completely formal and ready whereas Panther remained relaxed. None of them had a hint of fear.

"Orochimaru-dono." Shadow greeted, stepping forward and removing her mask. The other two remained behind her.

"Shadow-san. I was not expecting one of the council." He replied, some of his words slurring together.

"The Karikage would hardly disrespect another Kage, no matter how small the village, by not sending one of her best." Shadow replied, watching the snake's hands tighten. Sasuke stepped forward and out of the shadows that he hid in.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." He greeted, eyes not leaving her emerald ones.

"Shadow." The girl replied, a small smirk dancing on her lips. After training the elder Uchiha, she could read this boy like a book. Naruto stirred slightly behind his sensei and Itachi sent a quick message. _You were right. His arrogance will be his downfall._

"What is your Kages decision, Shadow-chan?" Shadow narrowed at the familiarity but let it go.

"No. Kira will remain nuetral and will not take a part in the war or risk taking a part in the war with nations that could join. Therefore, we will create no new alliances and cut all old ones so we can remain completely nuetral." Orochimaru sneered at the girl in front of him.

"Is your leader so afraid to take part in the war that she will risk any connection with outside villages? ANd what of your so called alliance with Suna?" Shadow hissed at the insult and both AMAZON tensed, ready to fight.

"For your first question, Serenity-sama is no coward. She simply has no interest in making foolish enemies when none need to be made. And as for the second question, we will send weapons and nothing more. The Kazekage has accepted this and it will not affect our relationship in the future. Do not be presumptuous, Oro-_chan, _and assume that because of our stance, Light is weak. Rather, our stance makes us strong and wise. Getting involved in the next Ninja war will only create enemies that need not exist." Kabuto narrowed his eyes and Orochimaru licked his lips. Sasuke prepared to fight.

"May I give your Kage a message?" Orochimaru asked. Shadow made a handsignal and Itachi and Naruto slipped into fighting position.

"Certainly." Orochimaru slipped into a crouch.

"Saying no has its consequences." He launched himself at the black haired kunoichi and Shadow flipped back avoiding the attack. Kabuto and Sasuke both jumped forward, the medic charging Itachi and the Sharingan user charging Naruto, who grinned at the chance for a rematch. And the fight began...

NINININININININININININININI 

_Orochimaru and Shadow _

Shadow was not having fun. Between avoiding the snakes, the tongue and the annoying jutsus, she had no time to counterattack. And while she was stronger than Itachi, who Orochimaru feared, she sucked majorly at genjutsu. And that was the only way Itachi had beaten the snake in front of her. That was a problem, Shadow deduced as she jumped away from a wicked volley of lightning strikes.

**"Kochiyose no Jutsu!" **Orochimaru shouted and Shadow quickly followed, summoning the largest panther she had. The panther and snake squared off and finally Shadow gained some advantage.

NININININININININININ

_Kabuto and Itachi _

Itachi was playing around and Kabuto knew it. There was no doubt in the medic-nins mind that this AMAZON nin would beat him. Itachi p;ayed genjutsu after genjutsu and Kabutos mind slowly broke, a trick Itachi learned from the head of the T & I division. Kabuto, however, would not fall so easily. He managed to slip under the AMAZON and land a chakra scalpel close to the Uchiha's face. Unfortunately, instead of hitting the AMAZON's face or nose, his wrist was caught and it only shattered the mask.

The mysterious shinobi frowned at his inability to stop the palm as he threw the medic-nin away. The piees of his mask fell to the ground and Kabuto froze at the face of Orochimaru's enemy. Uchiha Itachi stared impassively back. Kabuto realized he was screwed.

NINININININININININI

_Naruto and Sasuke_

The fight was completely uneven. Saseku tried jutsu ofter jutsu and the AMAZON just dodged or blocked all of them. He hadn't even attacked yet and Sasuke was losing. He knew he had limited chakra but surely this guy would have to make a mistake eventually, the avenger though. Unbeknownst to him, Naruto was smirking and completely enjoying how much he outclassed the ninja in front of him.

Naruto and Sasuke fought. Or more accurately, Sasuke tried to fight nd Naruto dodged all the attacks until Naruto flipped over Sasuke's head, giving him a clear view of his now demasked brother. Naruto tensed and moved to grab the rogue Uchiha's arms, stopping him from interfering with Itachi's fight. The effort was stopped as Sasuke flooded his system with a Chidori and ran towards his older brother who turned to face his little brother. Naruto followed, shaking off the numbness and landed beside his partner, who turned his head to look at his partner.

"Take off your mask, Fox. Shadow-hime and I already have, so you might as well." The Fox nodded with a feral grin and removed the Fox mask. Sasuke, focused on his brother, turned his attention to Itachi's talented partner and stared at his best friend.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke said in shock. Kabuto took the distraction Sasuke caused to attack the blonde from behind, only to get his wrist broken by Itachi's hand,

"You are in the way." Itachi said before casting a simple but effective genjutsu. **Dreamless Sleep. **Naruto shook his head at the pathetic, in his opinion, genjutsu his partner used.

"Getting soft, Uchiha?" Naruto asked, though there was no doubt which Uchiha he was talking to, given that he didn't add -teme at the end.

"You wish, Uzumaki." Itachi replied before returning to his prior place. Naruto smirked. "We need him alive, Naru, so don't go crazy. I will aid Shadow-hime. We will talk soon, foolish little brother." Sasuke tried to follow Itachi but was stopped by Naruto, who shook his head.

"Sorry, Sasuke-teme. My partner has a different job, and I can't let you interefer. You can have a family reunion later. For now, let's fight." Sasuke attacked in a fit of rage and was beaten badly.

NINININININININININININI

The tide turned immediately as soon as Itachi joined the battle and quickly, Orochimaru chose to retreat. Itachi moved to stop him but Shadow shook her head and Itachi obliged letting the rogue sannin leave without his medic or his apprentice. Returning to the previous battlefield, Shadow bent quikly to check Kabuto's pulse before walking forward to the struggling little Uchiha.

"Let me go!" Sasuke snapped, eyes on his aniki. Shadow threw her head back and laughed.

"Itachi, I do believe your brother is giving me orders." Shadow commented, clearly incredibly amused. Itachin 'hn-ed.

"Itachi tried that too, didn't he?" Naruto commented, leaning against a nearby tree with a casual and open grin.

"I would never beg." Itachi replied instantly, and Shadow and Naruto exchanged glances before Shadow shook her head, regaining attention.

"Listen, little Uchiha. I don't care what bloodline you have or who you are. What I care about, is what you can tell me about the cunning little snake that attacked me. And once you've told me that, I will leave you and my lovely little genin to hash out your problems and it will be up to them to decide your fate."

"What problems do your genin have with my foolish little brother?" Itachi asked, voice stoic as ever. Shadow turned with a grin.

"My current team are my little students. You and Itachi are the only people I will ever call my little genin. Good try though, Ita. I'll give you that." Sasuke struggled again before giving up and settling on a glare, switching between the members of the three man team. "Ita, you want to get him to talk, or should we take him home first." Itachi chose the second option. Naruto hefted his former teammate on his shoulder and Itachi did the same with the uconcious Kabuto and the three disappeared leaving no trace but the damaged field that Shadow and the Otokage had fought in.

_**(A/N) So I'm trying to decide if I want to kill Sasuke and Kabuto. Let me know if you have a preference. **_

_**The choices are as follows:**_

_**1. Only Sasuke lives**_

_**2. Only Kabuto lives**_

_**3. They both live**_

_**4 They both die**_

_**5 I turn them both into ferrets... (Just kidding! Not gonna do that,)**_

_**Joking aside, If you choose 1,2 or 3 let me know why you think they should live and if they should be let into light or rescued and if you choose options 1,2 or 4 let me know how you think they should die. (For example: execution, try to escape, suicide, Kyuubi get free, etc.)**_

_**Also, I want to know what country should attack Light to join in the war. Right now, its basically a three sided war. Leaf v. Rock and cloud v. Sand. I'll add mist in with Mei as the Mizukage soon but you'll find out where they join in soon. **_

_**I adore all my readers and hope you get back to me soon. Talk to you all later. **_

_**DarkBlackHeart 3**_


	6. Chapter 6

Warning: There may be a bit of gore but it should be alright for most people. Just beware.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto even if I want to. Heck, I'd be fine with just owning Itachi and Naruto but they've already been claimed... =(

Ch. 6 The price of betrayal

Sasuke and Kabuto were tied down and gagged and sitting in Serenity's office. Shadow had long since abandoned the AMAZON team for her new genin team, though, in her words, "They are nowhere near as fun as you two were." Itachi and Naruto just shook their heads and now they flanked the Kage, both relaxed but alert.

"Karikage-sama," Effine said, leaning against the wall. "What would you like, my lady?" She said, a savage grin on her face.

"Acquiant yourself with these two but do not injure them permanently. Make certain you do not touch Uchiha Sasuke's eyes. Shadow sealed them but it is a temperary seal and therefore easily broken. Don't risk it." Effine pouted slightly before glancing at the team.

"Hai. Whatever you desire, Karikage-sama." Serenity also glanced at the ninja beside her and smiled.

"Fox, Raven." Naruto and Itachi turned.

"I will grant any requests either of you have, given that both Kabuto and Sasuke have attacked you both at least once. Effine, we start now." Effine nodded and smirked at Sasuke and Kabuto. Serenity shifted her attention to the two captives, and her eyes flicked over Sasuke and rested on Kabuto's.

"Undo his gag." Serenity commanded and Itachi moved behind him, obeying immediately.

"Effine, Tell me if he lies." The redhead nodded.

"What is your position in Orochimaru's army?" Serenity asked, eyes on his.

"His medic." True. Serenity smiled encouragingly.

"Why do you serve him?" Kabuto hesitated, eyes on Orochimaru's apprentice and future host and then turned to the girl that could tell truth from lies. He knw it was her families gekkei genkei and that made her extremely effective interrogation. Finally, he decided to speak.

"The curse mark binds me to him." True. Serenity raised an eyebrow and glanced at Itachi standing behind the prisoner.

"Where do your loyalties lie then, Yakushi-kun?" Kabuto again glanced at Sasuke who glared back, silently ordering him not to answer. Kabuto sighed and turned back to the Karikage who was watching.

"With no one." True. Effine turned to Serenity, awaiting her orders. Itachi and Naruto both moved forward to converse quietly with the Karikage.

"Raven, send a summons to fetch Shadow-chan. She will remove Yakushi-kun's curse mark." Itachi nodded and obeyed as Serenity turned back to Yakushi Kabuto and debated before speaking.

"I cannot speak definatively without my council's approval. However, I am willing to say that with their consent, I will be willing to temporarily place you as a chunnin. Most likely, you are jounin rank; however, I hesitate to give you any rank that would indicate you as an elite before you've proven yourself to me and my council. This is of course, only one option, Yakushi-kun. Though I believe it is the best option I can give." Itachi and Naruto did not react, but Sasuke tried to say something and Serenity made a handsign. Shifting slightly from his position behind Kabuto, Itachi grabbed his brothers hair and pulled his head back.

"Learn some respect, foolish little brother." Itachi said monotonously before shoving his head down painfully. Serenity tured back to Kabuto.

"What say you?" Kabuto glanced at Orochimaru's apprentice before speaking.

"It sounds appealing, Karikage-sama. However, if Orochimaru-sama found out, he would surely target you and retrieve myself and his apprentice." Serenity smiled gently.

"Orochimaru fears Itachi-kun. That should not be a problem." Serenity replied, glancing briefly at Shadow's team.

"Then I would like the chance, Karikage-sama." The door opened and Shadow stalked in, eyes bursting with anger. Serenity raised and eyebrow.

"Stupid fangirls. You called, Serenity-sama?" The Karikage nodded and turned to the silver-haired nin.

"Can you remove the curse-mark?" SHadow sighed but knelt at the bound ninja's side and pumped chakra into her hands.

"For now, I'll put a generic seal on it. It'll take me a while to perfect a counter-seam and remove it completely but right now, I can take out the power that it generates and the influence of Orochimaru." Shadow said, after examining the seal completely.

"If I offered Yakushi-san a place in our ninja ranks, Shadow-chan, what would you say?" Serenity asked the distracted nin, curious as to her response.

"Will he harm either of my teams or any other of our ninja's?" Shadow asked, perfecting the seal on Kabuto's neck. Serenity looked at the foreign ninja for an answer.

"Not unless they hurt me first, Shadow-sama." Was the pained reply. The sealing was not pleasant and both Serenity and Shadow were impressed by his healing ability. Kabuto figured he'd explain it to them later. For now, he focused on not showing that he was in too much pain.

"Then I'm cool with it. I'll ask the other member of the council of you want, though all we need is Angel's support and she obeys you like she's a dog, no offense to her or anything." Serenity laughed, and nodded.

"Welcome to the ranks, Yakushi Kabuto. Understand that if you betray myself or light in any way, Effine will get to have fun and kill you. Comprehending that, I wish you the best of luck. Once you've recovered, please come here so I may inform you of your duties. Naturally you will remain under AMAZON guard for a month. Other than that, you will have all the priveledges of a Kira chuunin. Gecko!" The command echoed and an AMAZON shifted out of the wall that he had been hiding in. "Take Yakushi-san to the hospital once the sealing is done." The AMAZON nodded and slipped behind Kabuto, removing the blonds easily as Shadow made the final touches.

Sasuke glared openly at his former comrade and part-time sensei, furious at the betrayal. Itachi and Naruto shared a quick look and Itachi sighed from his position behind his brother. At the exit of Gecko and Kabuto, Serenity turned to the Uchiha brothers.

"Raven, this is your brother, ne?" Itachi nodded once and Serenity smiled sadly. "Does he know the entire truth?" Itachi shook his head negatively. "Will you tell him." Again, Itachi shook his head no. "Explain."

"My foolish little brother has made choices I cannot condone, and while I know the reasons behind them, he is utterly and completely weak. He cannot handle the truth." Shadow laughed from her place on the floor after she had falllen from the sealing process. She was no master and it exhausted her.

"Do you agree with your student's accessment, Shadow-chan?" Shadow nodded with a grin. Serenity asked Naruto who also nodded. "Then that is that. Next, for yor punishment. Itachi, remove his gag." The elder Uchiha removed the gag and dropped it on the ground.

"Effine," The girl understood the message and nodded with a smirk. "What is your position In Orochimaru's village?"

"Apprentice to Orochimaru." Effine grinned and nodded as Naruto made a cruel smirk under his mask and opened his mouth.

"Don't forget future vessel, Uchiha. That is a real honor." The sarcasm caused Serenity to laugh and the rest in the room held varying signs of amusement. Naruto had good reason to hate the boy in front of him.

"Why do you follow Orochimaru?" Serenity asked, controlling herself.

"He has power. I need it." Itachi narrowed his eyes and glared with open distaste at his blood brother.

"Why, Sasuke-kun? Is the Sharingan not enough for you?" Sasuke sneered at the Kage in front of him, thinking her as weak.

"You wouldn't understand, _girl._" Sasuke hissed earning two indignant glares and a soft smile from Serenity.

"Try me." The response sounded like a request but the shinobi in the room save Sasuke understood it as an order.

"To kill my brother." Naruto barked out a laugh and Shadow and Effine both snickered. Itachi just glanced down indifferently.

"Then you have already failed, Uchiha-san. Itachi is beyond your capability to kill. After all, how can a traitor match a prodigy taught by one of my very best? Give up. That is the only way you will survive the night." Sasuke snarled and activated his curse seal, effectively breaking the seal. The unexpected activation forced the older Uchiha brother to jump back.

"What do you know, you-" Shadow launched forward and hit four kunais right on target cutting off the insult about to come. Serenity sighed and made a handsign, activating seals that prevented chakra from forming and stopped the activation.

"I know a lot more than you think, Sasuke. Including the reason _why _your brother acted as he did. You are truly a fool and your price for attacking me is death. Raven, send a summons to Konoha and inform them that Sasuke will be executed in one month. Effine, remove his eyes. He has no use for them. Itachi, Destiny will implant his eyes into yours. That should sop the blindness from spreading." Sasuke could do nothing as Shadow and Effine carted him off to an operating room in the dungeons after Shadow resealed his chakra. Itachi glanced at Serenity and bowed before exiting the room with his partner to fetch the medic-nin. In the corner, a snake watched the procedings with a sinister look.

NINININININININININININ

_2 days later_

"Congrats on the new eyes." Naruto said, leaning against a tree as his partner sulked underneath the bandages. Both knew that Itachi had not wanted Sasuke's unwilling gift. Itachi would rather have faced his darkest fear, blindness, than take his younger brothers eyes. Despite everything, Itachi loved Sasuke.

"Stop sulking, Uchiha. You aren't blind anymore. Your brother can't try to kill you. Now all that's left is avoiding a war, killing a snake and Akatsuki and becoming stronger. Easy, right?" Itachi, eyes covered, turned in Shadow's direction and attempted a glare, which didn't work since the bandages covered his eyes and prevented his sharingan from activating.

"Go to hell." Itachi replied, realizing his glare wouldn't work now. Shadow jumped down beside him and Naruto followed.

"With the eternal mangekou, you will be able to copy all my jutsus easily, so you'll be able to match me in that aspect. However, neither you nor your partner can hope to challenge me in Sannin mode. So, I want to speak to the ravens and the toads and arrange sannin training. One week you'll be on active missions and the next you'll be training with your summons." Itachi glanced at her as Naruto jumped up and shouted excitedly about finally being able to match his sensei.

"Sensei, I can't train with no eyes." Itachi protested softly, waving a hand at his bandage.

"Great thing about sage training, Itachi-kun is that you don't need eyes. Now summon your critters." Itachi and Naruto obeyed immediately and the negotiations started. The toads and the ravens agreed to Shadow's terms after hearing the enthusiasm in both their summoners voices. More accurately, the toads heard the enthusiasm and the ravens assumed there was enthusiasm. Naruto and Itachi disappeared into the summons realms and Shadow sighed and returned to the teams all three AMAZON's were neglecting. _Great. Now I have to deal with all nine genin. Why did I agree to that suggestion again?_

NININININININININININININ

_In Konoha_

Tsunade and the ninja council agreed that they needed to team up with Suna. Thankfully, with the most outspoken bigots gone, Gaara agreed with them and the two nations formed a shaky alliance. Danzo tried to manipulate the shinobi council into attacking Light as an enemy, only to be shot down by the Suna representatives that were temporary members of the Konoha council.

"Kira is not our enemy. Kumo and Iwa are. If you wish to attack Kira, our side will lose and lose badly. Best to keep the Village Hidden in Light nuetral because if they aren't there is a good chance of them attacking Konoha and b extention, Suna." Danzo hissed but stood down, understanding the logic in the foreign jounin's argument. Still, Danzo knew that Shadow of he council was a threat and he prepared to send his best ROOT members to kill her. He did the same with Uzumaki and his unknown teammate.

Tsunade stood up and everyone glanced at her. "I am sending a team of ninja to ask Naruto if he will join the war. He and his teammate would be valuable assets and if their sensei came, that would be great." Yamanaka Inoichi stood.

"My daughter Ino will go if you allow it," Inoichi said, "She was a part of the Konoha 12 and the Rookie 9 and may help sway Naruto's opinion." The rest of the Ino-Shika-Cho stood as well, volunteering Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Shino will go." Aburame Shibi said quietly before returning to his seat.

"Kiba will as well." Tsume volunteered boisterously. She hated that Kiba had changed so much. Maito Gai stood next and volunteered TenTen and Lee, saying that he was the only one that could represent them on the council. Finally Hyuuga Hiashi stood.

"Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji also will go if you allow it, Godaime-sama. Both are able." Tsunade nodded. Danzo stood and everyone turned to him.

"Since all the rest of the former Konoha 12 are invited, should Haruno Sakura not also join the group." The question caused silence. It was true that Sakura was Naruto's teammate but she was not well-liked and had not treated Naruto well at his return. They all loathed to send her and turned to Tsunade who also thought about it.

"No. She has a conflict of interest in Light and would not help the mission." Danzo narrowed his eyes and spoke again.

"Please explain." Tsunade sighed but nodded.

"I got a message from Light this morning informing Konoha of a new prisoner that has been detained and questioned." The council tensed slightly, no sure as to what to expect. "Uchiha Sasuke along with Orochimaru and Kabuto attacked Shadow-hime's team after Shadow delivered the news of Karikage-dono's refusal to ally themselves with Otokagure. Orochimaru escaped and Kabuto and Sasuke were captured." The council members began to discuss the new development.

"What else was in this letter, Hokage-sama?" Shikaku asked from his seat. The rest of the council silenced and returned their attention to the front.

"Uchiha Sasuke is to be executed in approximately one month's time." The respinse was immediate. The more boisterous shinobi began to cheer on Light's decision while the more reserved allowed a few smiles. Dazo, however, stood up and the council room once again fell into silence.

"And you are just allowing this, Tsunade?" The question was sarcastic and angry and sparked a debate. Tsunade, along with the majority of the council supported Light's decision. Danzo and his side argued that another village executing Konoha's missing-nin made Konoha look weak. The suna ninja watched in disbelief and the messenger raven, sitting on a ledge finally jumped down into the middle of the floor and sqwauked loudly.

"My master wished me to inform you of Uchiha Sasuke's immenent death. There is no way to stop it and it will be Kira that kills him given the AMAZON commander's distrust of all things Konoha. Stop arguing and focus on the war that you will be raging. If you lose, it will be because of your childish disagreements. Tsunade-sama, Naruto-sama will be in the village every other week so if you send a team, they have one week until Naruto-sama returns from his training. The same is true of my master and Naruto-sama's teammate. I wish you well in you fight against Iwa and Kumo. May the wind lift you high." The raven departed in a poof and the shinobi stared at the place the nuetral nations messenger summons disappeared.

"Even a bird has moments where it thinks." Nara Shikaku muttered before falling asleep. The council glanced at their jounin commander and sighed. It was going to be a long war.

NININININININININININI

_At Mt. Myobuku_

"Naruto-chan, the idea to harnessing Nature's power is to sit still and feel it." Naruto nodded and got up to begin, only to be stopped by Pa toad. "I don't know if your sensei warned you, but this training is dangerous." Naruto titlted his head in questioning, a habit from when his face was hidden. "If you fail the training, you will be a Toad statue forever." The explanation sidn't worry the blonde shinobi and he just smiled and prepared himself for some difficulties that would come. However. He was prepared and Naruto knew it. Shadow had trained him well

NININININININININININI

_Somewhere in Suna_

"This should be easy, right Sasori-dono?" Deidar asked the wooden man beside him.

"Don't get cocky." The gruff voice replied as the two slowly moved through the desert. Ahead of them, the resting city of Sunagakure sat sleeping. The guards were heavy but their target, the Kazekage was tired after a long day of fighting. Sasori and Deidara were confident in their superiority and unprepared as a raging Kazekage hurled up as sandstorm to stop them.

_Akatsuki._ Gaara thought as the battle began.

_**(A/N) I changed the scene a lot in this chapter so I hope it's not confusing. The nest chapter will be like the beginning of Shippuden with a twist. (Obviously.) Also, There will be a meeting between the remaining Konoha 12 and Naruto and Itachi. **_

_**During this meeting do you want...**_

_**(1) Naruto to reveal himself and kill Sakura after she attacks him**_

_**(2) Itachi to reveal himself first and pretend to return to Akatsuki and save Gaara that way. **_

_**(3) Sakura and Kakashi to face Deidara and be saved by Naruto**_

_**(4) Gaara to die and Naruto lose himself to Kyuubi and meet the fourth.**_

_**(5) Gaara to win the battle against Deidara but be poisoned by Sasori and eventually be saved by Kabuto (who I am going to temporarily add to the team)**_

_**(6) Orochimaru interfere and drug Itachi forcing Naruto to choose. **_

_**(7) Another Idea made by you. **_

_**And a second question for all of you, since I'm on it. Do you want Jaraiya in the story? I haven't added him yet, but I'm honestly torn as to if I should. If so, choose an option as to how he should be added. **_

_**(1) Caught spying on a kunoichi of the leaf. (Probably Serenity or Shadow.)**_

_**(2) Has been off on a long-term mission to find Naruto missing and defects to Light**_

_**(3) Knows about his apprentices banishment and is spying on the Akatsuki for Serenity**_

_**On another note, I would like to thank TheRazgrizDragon for the wonderful ideas in the PM sent to me. They were very much appreciated!**_

_**Thanks to all of my reviewers and I hope you stick with me. **_

_**DarkBlackHeart 3**_


	7. Chapter 7

Warning: There are going to be fight scenes, (most likely not that graphic though) thus the reason for the T rating.

Disclaimer: Oh how I wish I owned Naruto...

Ch. 7 Akatsuki v. Leaf v. Light

Gaara and Diedara began to fight, sand versus bomb. Explosion after explosion rocked the empty sand dunes as a fierce Kazekage fought to protect his nation and a mad bomber tried to prove that his art was better.

**"Desert Funeral." **Gaara shouted, attempting to end the bombers life but only catching an arm. Deidara flinched in pain but kept up his one handed detonation signals. Below, Sasori watched with mild interest, not caring for his partner's safety in the least. The battle was taking too long, Sasori mused, and he hated to be kept waiting.

In Suna, shinobi were rallying to protect their leader, though most realized that the battle was far above their skill level. Kankurou rushed to fight the second Akatsuki member to help his brother. And Temari commanded troops to aid in the defnse of the city.

NINININININININININININ

_Mt. Myoboku_

"Very good, Naru-chan. You are advancing well." Pa toad complemented as the blonde shinobi ate his disgusting looking dinner quickly. The bugs still squirmed and left a disturbing after taste, though.

"Finish your dinner and rest, Naru-chan. You'll need it." Ma toad added, watching the human child eat the normal food for amphibians such as themselves. Naruto nodded and finished his food with a grimace.

"Good night, Gamabunta-san, Ma-sensei, Pa-sensei." Naruto said, stretching and heading to 'bed.' The toads nodded and soon followed. Once the blonde jounin sensed the rest of the house rested, he headed off for a bit of side training.

_XXFlashbackXX _

_"Naruto, the Rasengan you use isn't complete." His black-haired sensei commented after a particularly rough team training session with Itachi. Itachi was still sore about the rank and unwilling to place his trust in his former target. The anger tranfered into the side missions Shadow-sensei sent them on and that pissed the strong kunoichi off. Today was a testament to her anger and while no worse off than his partner, Naruto did not appreciate the soreness he felt. _

_"What do you mean, sensei? Ero-sennin said that I had the rasengan down and I'm getting quicker at forming it." The kunoichi nodded. _

_"Hai. You have the Fourth Hokage's rasengan down perfectly. However, that jutsu was never completed by the fourth. I don't know the details. Only Jiraiya of the sannin and maybe Copy Cat Kakashi know the intended results. All I do know is that justu isn't finished. When I give you and the Uchiha time off to train independently, after you two learn what teamwork is, You might mess around with it. I'll trust you not to kill yourself doing it, okay?" _

_Naruto nodded, lost in thought as to how he could improve the rasengan. His apprenticeship under Shadow greatly increased his knowledge and ability to create strategies, and while he wasn't a genius like Shikamaru or Itachi, he was fairly intellegent. _

_"Any suggestions, sensei?" Naruto asked. _

_"Hmm? Not really. The rasengan is the perfect shape transformation. The only thing it could possibly use is to combine it with your wind, but that would be nigh on impossible." Shadow mused distractedly. Indicating interest, the sensei agreed to hone his abilities with wind manipulation discribing its assets in a battle situation. _

_Shadow had forbidden him from perfecting the rasengan alone after the first training attempt because of the danger involved. _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

The wind caused problems and the clones that Naruto used, after his sensei taught him the true use of Shadow Clones, kept dispersing. Naruto tried to figure it out when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey gaki, I heard you were here." The toad sage called down from his position in a tree. Naruto glanced up at his former master and winced. Jiraiya would no doubt tell Shadow of his secret training. The sage bounced down and landed on his feet. Jiraiya and Naruto, since contact was severed after Naruto's banishment, had only met twice.

The first time, the sage had been spotted leaving Konoha in a rage and was headed to Light and Shadow and her team, unmasked, met him. The meeting cemented that Jiraiya would continue his spy network for Konoha but would travel the world instead of fighting for them. This was after Jiraiya insisted Shadow allow him to continue his training with Naruto and caused an impressive arguement.

The second time, Jiraiya popped in to say hi briefly before heading to Wave country.

"Hey, Ero-sennin." Naruto greeted, a bit resigned. The toad sage noted the resignation and understood his former apprentice probably wasn't supposed to be trying the technique.

"I've gotta leave in a bit but I have a gift for you." Naruto tilted his head from habit, a look of confusion on his face. The toad sage grinned and held out a scroll.

"It's from your dad. You might want to read it." Naruto opened the scroll and grinned at the words inside, eyes scanning the words with awe. This was gonna be awesome!

NININININININININININININI

_In Sunakagure_

Gaara fell from the sky. Deidara's final attack nearly destroyed Suna and Gaara made the only choice he could. Protecting his nation as he always had, the Kazekage stopped the giant bomb from leveling his city, depleting his chakra reserves completely. Sasori, done with the other puppet user joined his partner and both left.

The city was in dissarray, uncertain as to how to procede. Light and Leaf were closest, one shinobi noted urgently and two of the fastest messenger birds were sent out with requests for aid. The village could only hope that their two former allies would heed the request.

NININININININININININININI

_2 days later in Konoha_

Shikamaru ordered his team of 8 to prepare to depart just as Kakashi, Sakura and Gai stopped them and ordered a change in plans.

"Gaara-sama has been taken. We are to retrieve him. Any questions will be answered on the way to Suna." The team nodded and departed with urgency, Gai and Lee leading the way.

NINININININININININININI

_In Kira_

Serenity stared at the message before despatching the two summons that sat in her office. The raven and the toad immediately fetched the summoners as she sent a message for Shadow and Kabuto. Kabuto had proven himself an excellent medic and given her best medic was on a mission, he was her next choice.

Naruto and Itachi appeared at the same time her trusted councilwoman and the new medic did and she informed them of the mission.

"The Akatsuki has the Kazekage. Retrieve him alive." All four nodded and Shadow immediately took charge.

"Since of us isn't AMAZON we will only have masks in case of outside contact. 'Tachi, Naru, you two head immediately for Suna." The two nodded and darted off, obeying the command immediately. "Does the message say who attacked, Serenity-sama?" The Kage nodded. The information caused Kabuto's head to jerk up. Shadow noticed and ordered him to explain.

"I've met Sasori before and I have an antidote for the poison in my medical supplies in case Orochimaru-sama ever had to face Sasori in a fight. I've got 5 doses but that's it." Serenity nodded and ordered him to fetch the seals and for the two to follow their teammates. Naruto and Itachi moved fast and would not rest. It would be hard for them to catch up if they waited much longer.

"Let's go, Yakushi." The two headed out immediately, prepared for the fight.

NINININININININININININ

_With Naruto and Itachi_

Naruto pushed his already exhausted body to the limit. Furious with himself for not mastering the Hirashin scroll gifted to him by Jiraiya, Naruto knew he had a disadvantage. Itachi informed him of the team's abilities. Sasori was a puppeteer, which was great for Naruto because he could counter with Shadow clones. Deidara was a mad bomber, Itachi's target, the Uchiha thought silently. He had no issue beating him before and while he doubted Deidara would make the same mistake twice, all he needed was the briefest of eye-contact and the fight would be over.

The team sped on, aware that Kabuto and Shadow likely would catch up after they already reached Suna but that was not their problem. Unexpectedly, Itachi sensed twelve chakra signatures headed from Konoha in the same direction and suggested that they wait for them. Naruto nodded and slipped beside his partner and placed on his mask which he always carried. Itachi imitated the movement and the AMAZON stalked the newest arrivals.

"Why are we helping Suna again? They tore up the alliance after we banished the demon." Haruno Sakura ignored the glares her newest teammates sent her and focused on Kakashi.

"Suna needs our help and will owe us a favor." Kakashi replied bluntly. The two Light nin dropped in front of the group at Itachi's signal. Hinata, Neji and Shikamaru halted the attack as quickly as possible, preventing the confrontation. The three knew who was in front of them and informed the others they had no hostile intent.

"Hyuuga-san, Nara-san, Hitohami-san, Lee-san, Gai-san." Naruto greeted formally, leaving his partner on threat watch duty.

"Fox-san, may I inquire as to why you stopped us?" Neji asked, stepping forward before the other jounins could.

"Hai. Raven and I are on a mission from Sunagakure to rescue the Kazekage. We overheard the conversation that the pink-haired kunoichi was having with Copy Cat Hatake and stopped to inquire about the meaning of 'helping Suna." Naruto answered, purposefully changing his voice slightly with chakra. Shikamaru stepped forward.

"So you're on the same mission. Troublesome." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the team gathered. Itachi and him silently had a conversation and came to an agreement.

"Given the importance of the mission, my partner and I would like to request that we join forces. It is extraordinarily important that we rescue the Kazekage using any means necessary." The Konoha nins debated and eventually agreed. Raven stepped forward.

"We have two teammates following us and our orders are to get to Suna as fast as possible. I would like to recommend that a team of two of your fastest ninja with the most stamina accompany my partner ahead while we follow at a slower pace allowing our teammates to catch up." Kakashi agreed and it was unanimously decided Rock Lee and Maito Gai would go with Naruto. Itachi sent a messenger bird to find Shadow and reveal the new information about the necessary teamwork. She would deal with hiding Kabuto's identity if deemed necessary.

After the three ninja departed Kakashi turned to the masked nin. "What can we expect from your teammates?" Itachi hesitated before answering, debating whether to reveal Shadow's identity. He was saved from answering by a large black panther poofing into existance in front of them.

"Get to Suna and start on the trail. Snake and my mistress will follow soon." The order held the news that Yakushi Kabuto had temporarily taken Effine's mask. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the panther and turned to Itachi who was preparing to move again.

"Your teammate is Lady Panther." The team behind the Copy Cat tensed save Neji, Shika and Hinata.

"Hai. We must move, Hatake-san. It is imperative we make it in time." Kakashi nodded and the team took off again, though the former squad leader of team 7 was much less enthusiastic about the partnership. The questions asked about the team following were easily parried by Itachi who stubbornly refused to answer.

Ahead, Naruto, Lee and Gai were easily breaking records. Lee and Gai had long since removed the training weights and pushed themselves to keep up with the foreign ninja. The silence was broken by an occasional twig snapping but the speed stopped either energetic green clad ninja from speaking. It would only take precious air.

NINININININININININININININ

_2 days later_

Naruto and his temporary team entered the sandy village and were greeted by anxious Suna ninja's, telling the story of what happened. Naruto listened carefully to the detailed report, silently glad that it was only the two ninja already known. Deidara and Sasori were manageable.

Gai and Lee watched the masked nin speak calmly with the informant, thanking them for the info and turned to the jounin and chuunin ninja.

"I will send a summons back to partner and to lead them to the base. Fortunately, both myself and my partner as well as the backup team know exactly what we are facing given that we've all encountered at least two current or former members of Akatsuki." Gai and Lee immediately asked questions and Naruto answered vaguely.

"Fox-san, what is the situation?" Neji asked, dropping down with Itachi slightly behind him. The rest of the team waited back aways, still uncomfortable with the joint mission.

"Our opponents are Deidara and Sasori, which we already knew. No other members were seen. According to the location, we believe they are headed to a base on the edge of the land of fire. My summons are already searching for the chakra signature of the Kazekage." Itachi nodded and Kakashi stepped forward to join in the conference.

"My ninken are also searching and have found a faint trace." Kakashi said and the Fox ninja nodded and the two prepared to move out just as a team of two other masked ninja dropped down, putting the team on guard.

"Snakes aren't deadly if you take away the fangs." Shadow said and Itachi nodded, introducing Kabuto and her to the leaf ninja.

A team of Sand ninja approached, Temari in the lead. The elder Chiyo and Gaara's apprentice Matsuri accompanied the group as well as the sand siblings former sensei Baki.

"We will join you." The sand elder announced, voice cracked with age. Shadow nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly that Sand should protect their leader.

NININININININNININININ

"Alright, listen up!" Shadow called, eyes on the foreboding signatures approaching. Itachi explained quietly that the technique was only 50% of the actual power, but that didn't stop the worry the others felt. Neither of the approaching ninja seemed easily beaten after all, it was Pein and Tobi who approached. The others turned to listen to the AMAZON leader.

"What are you planning?" Kakashi asked.

"The people approaching will be very dangerous. Snake is my medics and I'll need him ahead. Raven and Fox will stay back to dispatch the ninja's blocking the way. The rest of you, split your teams in half." The other ninja's agreed and started dividing up into two groups.

Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, Shino, Tenten and Ino would advance from the leaf, along with Snake and Panther from Light and elder Chiyo and Matsuri from the sand. While Kakashi, Neji, Chouji, Gai, Lee, Kiba, Raven, Fox, Temari and Baki would dispatch the approaching ninja.

The teams split as soon as the enemies neared and despite attempting to stop the group heading for the hideout, the other groups numbers prevented the foreign ninja's from being able to. Pein glared sullenly at the ninja's, not daring to use Shinra Tensei with only 50% of his chakra and only one body. Tobi went on about being a 'good boy,' and refused to take his eyes of the pair from Light. He seemed fascinated by them, but both AMAZON ninja knew better. 'Tobi' knew exactly who they were.

NINININININININININININI

"Chiyo-sama, Kabuto, Shino and Matsuri should take care of Sasori. Shikamaru, Hinata, Ino and Tenten should distract Deidara. Sakura and Myself will get the Kazekage to safety." The team agreed that it was logical and so they moved towards the hideout entrance, using Hinata's byakugan to predict several distructive traps set by Deidara with his so call 'art.' Approaching the boulder, A small tag sat on the rock and Shadow jumped up to examine it, glaring at it.

"What is it?" Sakura asked curiously.

"A five-pronged seal. We'll need four people to break it. Which means the teams I just made are invalid. Shikamaru, Ino, Matsuri and I will break the seal at the other locations and someone tear it off here as well. The teams will remain the same with the exemption of the four." Chiyo agreed immediately and the four darted off as per Hinata's instructions, communication devices in their ears. At the count of three, the five seals were removed at the same time, and the retrieval team darted inside to see Gaara trapped in a strange light with glowing figures all-around save for the forms of Sasori and Deidara.

Pein glared at the incomers but had no choice but to halt the sealing to deal with them. Sakura darted through at a subtle handsign from Chiyo and grabbed Gaara before the foreign ninja's could react and darted out, pursuers blocked by the others. Quickly, the pink-haired medic checked the Kazekage's pulse and smirked at the silence.

NINININININININININININININI 

The ten ninja left to distract the other forms were losing. Itachi and Naruto were the only two still unscratched and that was only because they knew the opponents battle styles. Kakashi overused his sharingan and was panting heavily. Neji had done a distructive Kaiton and managed to injure Pein, but was hurt badly by Tobi who appeared behind him. FInally, Itachi and Naruto agreed to show their true power, despite the fact that it would reveal their identies.

"Sharingan activate!" The battle changed quickly, the duo working flawlessly and illimating Pein with a distraction by Itachi and a Rasengan formed by Naruto. Tobi popped out of existance moments later when Naruto managed a wind-style jutsu designed to cause distruction. The watching ninja from Leaf and Sand stared at the two as they returned to the others. Neji spoke first.

"Couldn't you have done that earlier?" Relief spread through the Leaf ninja as the untrusted jounin greeted the two as friends. Granted, Neji didn't like Itachi (The only sharingan user not currently on death row) but if Naruto trusted him, so did Neji.

Kakashi alone remained away from the two foreign ninja's. He couldn't believe his sensei's son would join a traitor and fight with him. Kakashi was disgusted at the thought, but blamed himself more than the blonde. He hadn't exactly done anything to help the boy out.

NININININININININI

After peeling off the tabs, the four ninja faced a genjutsu showing them their worst fear.

_Shikamaru_

Shikamaru faced the Sasuke retrieval mission again. Only this time, Naruto was the betrayer and Sasuke chased after him. Sasuke and Shikamaru ttraded positions, the Uchiha taking Tayuya while he continued on to face the Kaguya and later Naruto himself. At the valley of the end, Naruto was completely different. His vibrant blue eyes shone with unconcealed hatred and he mocked Shikamaru with what he was, a demon.

"Everything I did, Everything I said was all a lie, Nara. I made you all think that I was fine but you have no idea. No idea the torments I faced and no idea the hatred I felt, the desire to rip out the throats of every member of the Kami-forsaken village I despise. I hate you, Nara, and everyone else that dared pretend they understood me. I hate you and everyone else that liked my masked self, the happy idiot. I want you all _dead!" _

The genius closed his eyes, attempting to erase his fear, trying to think logically. Naruto would never do that. Naruto could never do that. But as much as he tried, Shikamaru couldn't help but think of the possibility that Naruto could've been the traitor.

_Ino_

The day turned to night as Ino faced her former weak self and watched as she clung to the traitor. She watched as Sasuke slit her throat while murmering things that she'd once dreamed he'd say. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched herself die at the man she once called her true love.

A demented Naruto and Sakura watched, eyes on the dead Ino and laughing at her misfortune. Team Gai also arrived as did Hinata, Kiba and Shino. SHe watched as her friends one by one one turned from her, thanking the Uchiha for killing her and then left, leaving the blonde on the ground. Shikamaru and Chouji came last, approaching Sasuke.

"Thanks, Sasuke. She was really annoying and she called me fat and told me to eat less. I'm glad she's dead. It saves me from a headache." Chouji said, snacking on potato chips and grinning.

"Yeah. She was troublesome. Thanks Sasuke. You are not so troublesome after all." Ino burst into tears, unable to escape the image of her without friends.

_Matsuri_

Matsuri watched Gaara die protecting her. She watched as he fought the four artisan ninja kill him as he protected her. Her eyes widened as the scene changed into different versions with the same result. In every image, the Kazekage died and she watched as she could do nothing. The last one was the worst though. The former Kazekage approached Gaara from behind while he talked with her. Matsuri opened her mouth to warn him but could do nothing.

Gaara smiled at Matsuri and opened his mouth. "Tell Izumi that I love her." Gaara closed his eyes and Matsuri broke.

_Shadow_

The past was often worse than the future, Shadow mused, as she watched her seven year old self kneel in front of her uncle and try to plead her case. There was blood everywhere and the incriminating blade hadn't left the child's hands. Around her younger self, bodies missing limbs scattered the floor, expressions of infinite pain etched forever on their faces.

"I didn't! Uncle, I swear!" The girl begged and Shadow shook her head at her own naiveness. The pain of the past didn't escape her and she watched as her father approached, faked shock on his face as he took in the scene. The elite bodyguards stood idly by, watching as the child was sentenced to banishment. Her father pushed for death but her uncle struck him down. Shadow closed her eyes, trying to block out the arguement the two had over whether she should live. Attempting to block out her fathers' words didn't work and Shadow listened to the words she feared the most from him.

"You've disappointed me child. I wish you were dead and if I could, I would kill you myself." Her former self burst into tears and Shadow stared impassively at the scene, trying to block out her own pain.

_**(A/N) As you can see, I made some changes to the manga that I thought were necessary. Thank you all for the input and I'm sorry if I didn't make the chouce you wanted me too but the ones I made were by far the most popular. If you have any questions leave a review or PM me and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. I really appreciate the support you guys give me and I love you all. **_

_**The pairing, if you're wondering, will be NarutoxTenten but that won't come until after the Light joins the war on one side or the other. **_

_**Thank you all for the awesome reviews and keep them coming. **_

_**As for my questions for my readers this time around:**_

_**Question 1: **_

_**I want a character death soon that will cause Naruto to unleash the Kyuubi so he can meet his father. Should it be:**_

_**1. His sensei Shadow**_

_**2. Jiraiya**_

_**3. Serenity**_

_**4. Itachi **_

_**5. A leaf ninja (Neji, Shikamaru or Tenten)**_

_**6. Your choice. **_

_**How should Light join the war:**_

_**1. Danzo sends his root to attack **_

_**2. Orochimaru tries to rescue Sasuke and fails and starts a war**_

_**3. Iwa discovers Naruto's heritage**_

_**4. Something else. **_

_**Please leave a review or PM me if you have any ideas or want to see something in the story.**_

_**~DarkBlackHeart 3**_


	8. Chapter 8

Ch. 8

Gaara lay prone on the ground, with a pink haired kunoichi smirking over him, hands glowing green to complete her mission but not before she left a part blow that could be easily blamed on the bomb expert. No one would be the wiser when she permenantly ended the Kazekage's ninja career and perhaps his life if she got lucky.

NININININININININININ

Itachi and Naruto led the group to the hideout, eyes on the lookout. Pakkun stopped and informed the team of assorted shinobi that Sakura had the Kazekage and that four assorted Ninja's were currently trapped in a genjutsu. Naruto immediately turned to his former sensei and current teammate.

"You guys go help the other four. I'm gonna go to Gaara." The blonde darted off, leaving no room for argument. Itachi turned to the others and sighed.

"I will aid my sensei. Temari should help Matsuri-san and Chouji and Kiba should help Shikamaru and Ino respectively. The rest should probably go to the battle area. Even with the numbers we have, I have a feeling our teams will struggle immensely. The group agreed and split again, going towards their assigned area.

NININININININININININININ

_Shikamaru_

Naruto as a demon was troublesome. Shikamaru, as much as he tried to predict his friends action, the number one unpredictable ninja foiled his plan. His clothes were burned and his chakra was exhausted and despite knowing that it was an illusion, Shikamaru felt helpless at knowing how Naruto could have turned out. The fire emited from the Kyuubi/Naruto figure burned his clothes and he hissed in pain. Finally, the fox got tired of playing and pinned the lazy nin down by his claws.

'Troublesome.' SHikamaru thought sadly, silently sending apologies to Chouji, Ino and his parents. He knew that this genjutsu would kill him. Of that, there was no doubt. And so, as the fox bent down to rip out his neck, Shikamaru closed his eyes, expecting death. Instead, a steady stream of chakra woke him up and the ninja opened his eyes to stare at Chouji.

The smile Shika sent to his friend said thanks before the exhausted shinobi collapsed into the Akamichi's arms. The redhead sighed and sat, allowing the pinapple haired ninja to sleep on his shoulder.

_Ino_

The blonde Yamanaka prepared to watch herself die again by the hands of Sasuke. As time passed, the deaths became more brutal, more savage, more personal. The cuts on her other's self went shallower, meant to cause pain but not kill. Ino flinched at the sight, closeing her eyes and attempting to ignore her own screams and Sasuke's laugh.

Naruto and Sakura began to join in the torture, Sakura holding her former self back with her newly acquired massive strength that Tsunade reluctantly taught her. Naruto joined Sasuke in making the cuts.

The scene started over with a new Ino. This time, it was her new self and she was fighting all three of the former Team 7 together. She watched as her identical image lost, badly, and fell to the ground. Sasuke smiled and said something that made the other two smile vindictively and the raven knelt to the ground, pulling out a kunai and slowly, making sure to create a line of blood, cut off Ino's clothes. The girl watched in horror as Sasuke tied her up with her own clothes and she began to struggle. The mirror Ino cried out until Naruto, who joined in the action, silenced her with a bite on the lip and a threat.

Ino didn't want to watch but couldn't take her eyes away as Sasuke and Naruto began to have her way with her. Just as they were about to enter her though, a pulse of chakra ended the nightmare and the kunoichi stared greatfully at Inuzuka Kiba before collapsing from mental trauma. The boy caught her and laid her down gently, sitting against the tree with her head in his lap.

_Matsuri_

Gaara died. Again. This time, it was people she knew and loved that stabbed him. Temari. Kankurou. Baki. Chiyo-sama. Repected jounins attempted to kill her but the end result was always her secret love's death.

The worst came when Uzumaki Naruto approached, a feral smile on his lips and a kunai in his hands. He threatened her, telling her of untold pain if she didn't stop corrupting Gaara. Making him nicer. The lies should have struck as false but the words made sense somehow and so Matsuri began to cry. Both herself and her mirror image.

Naruto stabbed down with a kunai and Gaara lept in front. As the redhead was dying, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a strange pulsing. The genjutsu ended and Matsuri stared up at the Wind mistress in front of her.

"Thank you, Temari-sama." Matsuri said before collapsing completely into her friends' arms. Temari caught her and sighed. She knew that the genjutsu this girl had just suffered through was not pleasant and she laid the girl on the grass, kneeling beside her to check her pulse and preform the little medical jutsu she knew.

_Shadow_

The past was horrible to watch, Shadow thought to herself, watching as her former self, hell-bent on revenge massacred reminders of her past. Shinobi that came too close died. Women that acted too aggressive died. Children that cried too loud died. The girl in front of her was a demon, worse than the Kyuubi because she was human and had no excuse.

Itachi at least had an order to commit his crimes but she did it for _fun _and it sickened the real Shadow. Naruto and Itachi knew nothing about her past and for good reason. The past that she had faced was bloody and full of regrets.

The kunoichi thought she rid herself of her demons but watching the crimes reaccur assured her the she hadn't. Just as the black-haired devil in front of her was about to slaughter a family of seven because they asked for directions, a wave of chakra ended the illusion and the girl returned to reality.

"Welcome back, Shadow-sensei." Itachi said coolly, watching her. The girl motioned for the raven to move and he obeyed without thought. A stream of vomit followed the Uchiha's movement and Itachi narrowed his eyes, even as he knelt to stroke his teacher's back.

Shadow smiled at Itachi weakly and closed her eyes.

"The past is a demon that cannot change." The girl murmured before collapsing back into her students arms. Itachi sat, bringing the girl onto his lap and leaning against a tree behind him, avoiding the pile of vomit just ejected.

The sky flicked with white clouds, unobtrusive and interesting, the Uchiha thought calmly, passing the time with random fond memories of himself, his teammate, and his sensei.

NINININININININININININ

The first antidote had been used to save Subaku no Kankuro from certain death, Kabuto thought to himself as he recapped the battle. The next had been pushed into his and the elders's bodies. He had tried to do the same with Shino but Shino informed them that his bugs would eat the poison from him and told them not to waste one of the last two on him.

Hearing that, they began the battle with the puppets. Destroying Sasori's scorpion puppet with well timed chakra scalpels and bugs, the puppet user called out the Third Kazekage puppet. Shino would be no help against the powerful attacks the former Kazekage specialized in, so Kabuto did a powerful move he learned from Orochimaru. The water jutsu eliminated a lot of the iron filled sand, but not all. Shino had his bugs eat the rest.

Sasori snarled to himself, and poisoned Kabuto with a lucky shot, only for Kabuto to cure the problem with a dose of the meds.

"Congratulations. You have lived up to your reputations, Chiyo-obaasan, Yakushi-san, Aburame-san. But, I will end this match here. Let me show you why I am the best puppet user alive. **Puppet Technique: 100 puppets" **Shino turned at Chiyo-sama's gasp and rose an eyebrow.

"No known puppet user can use more than 10 puppets." Chiyo explained, as she pulled out her own puppets. Shino nodded in understanding and prepared his bugs for an attack. Sasori laughed and launched the puppets against them. The battle was very rough as Chiyo's ten puppets got destroyed after three quarters of the enemies puppets fell. Shino's bugs deassembled most of the rest, but one got through and punctured the Sand elders' arm. Kabuto pushed in the last of the five antidotes into the advisor's body, knowing that doing so could cost him his life very soon.

Chiyo stood a bit shakily and turned to her grandson, calling up her trump cards. "The mother and father puppets."

Sasori glared at the pieces of wood before mocking the old women for her sentimentality. Chiyo sighed and the battle continued, 25 puppets against 2 as wells thousands of bugs and three tired ninja's.

When the last was eliminated by the fearsome Kikai bugs, Sasori smiled and attacked sensing the opening the three had left. Kabuto prepared a chakra scalpel to cut his veins in his neck, only for it to not work and leave him open. The shock on the silver-haired medic's face was shortlived as the puppet user's weapon moved to draw blood.

"**Wind style: Great breakthrough" **The wind cause Sasori to fly into a wall. Baki approached with the other four still with them. Neji moved forward, Byakugan activated and explained the reason the technique Kabuto used hadn't worked.

"His body is made of wood." Chiyo closed her eyes sadly.

"How low you've falled, grandson. To turn not only your victims but yourself into a puppet." The dissappointment radiated through the air but Sasori only laughed.

"I fear it is time for me to retreate, given that you've dissimated my collection. I'll have to make more." Sasori mused as he made handsigns to shunshin away.

"Stop him!" The order came too late and the puppeteer dissappeared, leaving only the Light, Leaf and Sand ninja's.

NINININININININININININ

The group following Deidara struggled trying to keep up. Hinata could see him but the ninja was flying so high that it didn't really matter. Only a flying ninja could keep up and eventually the two gave up, after long distance jutsu's failed. Deidara laughed, wishing he had more explosives to blow the girls sky high, but since he didn't he just departed, heading to the place that he and Sasori were supposed to be in one week's time.

"Dammit." Tenten muttered, irritated that she couldn't cathc the mad bomber. Hinata shook her head and apologized for her uselessness. "It wasn't your fault, Hinata. I doubt anyone could stop a flying ninja unless you had a flying summon and we don't have that. Let's get back and go check on Kazekage-sama." Hinata nodded and the two turned around.

NININININININININIININ

Sakura tensed as the masked Light nin jumped beside her, roughly asking for a report.

"The bomber hurt him badly. But he will live." _Unfortunately. _Naruto caught the hidden part of the message and tensed.

"The bijuu inside should heal him." The boy commented, checking for Sakura's reaction.

"Yes. The monster should be fine." Sakura replied, mistaking the fact that Naruto mentioned the bijuu for the fact that Naruto thought Gaara was the bijuu and promptly abandoned all pretext of liking the jinchuuriki.

"How well did you heal him?" Naruto asked, using her misconception against her. The pink-haired girl fell for it, and explained what she did just as Chouji, with Shikamaru on his shoulder, appeared. Hearing the last end of the conversation, the Akamichi fliched, sensing the killer intent Naruto leaked out.

Nearby, where the Uchiha and his sensei sat, Itachi tensed and picked her up, jumping to his teammates location. Naruto contained his anger and Sakura looked really confused. Chouji began to explain who he was only to be cut off by Fox.

"Sorry, I was just angry that the _demon_ was alive at all." Underneath the mask, Naruto seethed and began to plan the girl's demise. Chouji looked between them and sighed in confusion but acted as he usually would when Sakura insulted the jinchuuriki.

"He's not a demon." Sakura sneered.

"Demon-lover." The girl accused, eyes scornful of the boy in front of her.

"You are incorrect, Sakura-san." Itachi informed, jumping down beside his teammate and placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

"You too?! How do you deal with this guy, Fox? Doesn't he know that Gaara is a monster?" Itachi raised an eyebrow under his mask, not understanding why this girl turned to _Naruto, _a jinchuuriki for support.

Naruto shook his head at the girl and sighed. "Hai. Gaara may be a monster but he pulls rank. Which is despicable." Sakura grinned at the support and Itachi shook his head.

"I can't believe you, Fox." The response was outwordly full of disgust but inwardly, Naruto heard it for what it really was, amusement. At that moment, Tenten and Hinata appeared and sensed the tension between the three.

"Fox-san, Deidara escaped." Tenten informed. Naruto nodded and smiled at both of them.

"Perhaps you two will agree with Sakura-san and myself. Is Gaara, as a jinchuuriki a monster?" Both women looked at the shinobi like he was crazy before catching on. He was trying to make a fool of Sakura.

"No." Hinata replied immediately and Tenten agreed enthusiastically.

"Hn." The rest of the missing team started trickling in to join the conversation and all, knowing Foxes identity or not, agreed that Sakura was wrong and Naruto smiled. Kakashi alone seemed to think that the jinchuuriki was not all human, but he did not deny that Gaara was not the demon.

Kabuto sighed at his temporary teammates actions and checked on the unconcious Kazekage. Sensing a disturbance, the former Oto nin fixed tha sabatauge without mentioning it. He would bring this to the Hokage, he thought, after comprehending the subtle handsigns Naruto made. Haruno would pay for trying to kill Kazekage-sama.

NININININININININININI

Granny Chiyo and the rest of the Suna ninja' thanked the group profusely. Matsuri and Gaara were both still unconcious but alive, mostly thanks to the Light nin. Naruto explained Sakura's sabutauge and Chiyo agreed that the Hokage should deal with it since it was her, to Tsunade's dismay, apprentice.

The remaining group departed, genjutsu victims carried on the comrades backs, and returned to the Leaf. At the point where the two groups had met, Shino noted that the Light ninja's made no move to depart. Naruto answered.

"We have a message from Karikage-sama for the Hokage." Effine would be proud at the lie, but none of the Leaf contested it and allowed the group of three and Shadow's sleeping form, to return with them.

At the gate, Kotetsu greeted the group and granted them leave to return to the Hokage's chambers. There, a brief report satisfied Tsunade and the team was dismissed except for the unconcious Ino and Shikamaru who were examined while Naruto explained the mission's outcome in more depth.

Coming to the part of Gaara's retrieval by Sakura, Naruto removed his mask and ran a hand through his blond locks.

"She and I began to discuss the _possibility _of Gaara being a monster, and I got her to trust me. I asked her if he would live and she told me that he would. Then I asked her how well she had healed him which is when she told me of the _mistakes _she made, on purpose. Snake healed the Kazekage's damage from his fight, the sealing and Sakura and he will live." Tsunade nodded and summoned Sakura after informing Naruto to replace his mask.

"Snake informed me of the damage that Gaara had recieved. Some of it, I was surprised to hear, was quite dangerous. Did you not detect the damage, Sakura?" The pink haired girl glanced at the other medic before politely informing the Hokage that she had healed all of the life threatening injuries on the Kazekage before she suffered from chakra exhaustion and could not continue.

"Snake-san?" Tsunade asked, turning to Naruto's unknown teammate. She recognized the mask but it was clearly not the same ninja that served under Serenity three years ago.

"The injuries the Kazekage sustained when I reached him were possibly crippling and some could end his life if left untreated. A medic in Light has soldier pills to stop chakra exhaustion. I must say I am surprised that the leaf doesn't adhere to the same policy." Sakura tensed and Tsunade turned to her apprentice.

"The Leaf does, Snake-san. My apprentice was lying." The girl began to object only to be silenced by Tsunade's hand. "Fox, please explain why." Naruto smirked and stepped forward.

"Haruno-san had no signs of chakra exhaustion when I arrived. Also, she informed me that Kazekage-sama was not fully healed because she believed him to be a demon that did not deserve life." Tsunade nodded.

"Do you agree, Fox-san?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and Tsunade pantomimed removing the mask. The order was a silent one, but Itachi tapped him on the shoulder to tell him that it would be okay. With his teammates'approval, Naruto removed the mask and shook out his hair. Turning to face Sakura, Naruto smirked.

"I do not." The girl paled and backed up before turning to run, only to be stopped by Raven and Snake.

"Thank you for your honesty. Haruno Sakura, for the attempted assassination of the Kazekage, I hereby order that you shall have your chakra sealed and imprisoned for the rest of your life. Bigots are not welcome in Konoha. Enjoy a cell. ANBU!" Tsunade's order was immediately carried out and the others bowed before leaving. Only Raven remained and he asked permission to see the girl that had just left.

Tsunade nodded and the boy turned to leave, escorted by ANBU wo showed him the cell and left to guard the door.

NINININININININ

_Sakura's cell _

"Haruno." Raven greeted. The girl glared at him, eyes furious. "Do you know the difference between a sword and a sheath?" The question caught her off guard but she nodded. "What about a sealing scroll and a kunai. Is there a difference?" Again, Sakura nodded. "Are the ANBU guarding you reponsible for your actions?"

"My actions were justified." Sakura snapped but Itachi shook his head and crouched.

"That was not my question. Justified or not, are the ANBU acting under orders responsible for your actions?" Sakura shook her head.

"Is Sasuke-san Orochimaru?" The girl looked at him confused and Itachi explained with a sigh. "The curse mark that Sasuke bears has a piece of the Snake Sannin's soul. Does this make him Orochimaru?" Sakura shook her head.

"Of course not! Sasuke-kun could never be that bastard!" Itachi paused, raising an eyebrow underneath his mask.

"Even if the seal affects his mind?" Sakura vehemently swore that Sasuke wasn't Orochimaru and Itachi moved to his main point. "Then why do you blame the container for what's inside?"

"What do you mean?"

"You blame Gaara-sama and my teammate for what they contain. Why?"

"The bijuu destroyed out homes. They are monsters!" Itachi nodded once.

"I do not deny that the nine-tailed bijuu are monsters, but you do not blame a sheath for containing a sword nor do you blame a scroll for containing a kunai that killed your parents. And Sasuke, despite having Orochimaru literally inside of him is beyond reproach. He is not Orochimaru, therefore Naruto and Gaara cannot be the bijuu they contain."

"That's different!" Sakura yelled immediately. Itachi shook his head.

"Orochimaru affects Sasuke's mind. The bijuu affect Naruto and Gaara's minds. Both have seals. And yet, you immediately claim Sasuke is beyond reproach and could never be Orochimaru but Gaara is automatically the Ichibi and Naruto the Kyuubi? How hypocritical and blind, are you, Haruno? I expected better." Itachi turned to leave but Sakura grabbed his wrist.

"Who are you?" She demanded quietly and Itachi closed his eyes.

"I am a friend of Naruto's and the only loyal teammate he has ever had. I hope you rot, girl. You deserve nothing more." Itachi pulled away and departed, leaving a shocked girl behind him, doubting her actions for the first time in her life.

ININININININININININ

Shadow woke up silently, glancing at the masked head in front of her before sighing and closing her eyes. Naruto approached a hotel that Kabuto had booked, requesting that they rest for the night in the village. Agreeing with him, Naruto had handed him money in exchange for his sensei. Tsunade had offered to heal her, but Naruto shook his head. Kabuto, while not as legendary, was an excellent medic and her aid, though appreciated, was not needed. Besides, he didn't want to affend Kabuto by asking for his godmothers help.

"Fox-san." Tenten said, voice a bit nervous, and Naruto turned, tilting his head to the side. "Can I talk to you?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. Let me take sensei to the hotel and we can go someplace quiet." Tenten followed silently as Naruto first went into the rooms reserved by the former Oto nin and then to the top of the Hokage monument. There, Naruto turned to face her, giving her his undivided attention.

The girl wore her typical battle attire and her kind brown eyes showed her nerves. Her hair was up in her normal two buns style and she smiled softly at the boy in front of her.

"Why didn't you tell us who you were?" Tenten asked after the she took him in. He wore the AMAZON uniform, black pants with a fishnet undershirt that went to his elbows with a black overshirt that hugged his abdomen. His face and hair were covered by the mask of a laughing fox, but she could still tell his facial expressions. Naruto turned and removed his mask, revealing the back of his sunny blonde hair.

"I don't trust Konoha and by extension, Leaf shinobi. It's a bit irrational, but I have a good reason, or so I like to think." Naruto said, gazing out at the city he used to call home. Tenten sighed.

"You trusted Neji." Tenten said softly, but Naruto heard it and smiled at the jealousy. He and Tenten, after the chuunin exams and before the retrieval mission had spent a lot of time together because Naruto, Lee and Neji had started to hang out and since they were her team, she joined in. After the first few meetings, Naruto joined their training sessions since Kakashi was focused on the Uchiha and Jiriaya had his research. Gai had started calling him the 'fourth member' of the team and it became obvious that he wasn't as dumb as he acted and could actually be quite rational and intelligent. Neji and her had commented on it, only to get brushed aside, with a 'huh?' and his expression of confusion.

Slowly, Tenten became one of his 'precious people' and she became the person he came to talk to when he needed to let things out. Then, Naruto was banished. The day that happened, she was the person he went to, AMAZON protectors in tow. She noticed immediately that something was wrong.

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"Naruto?" Tenten asked, turning from her training to look at her friend and the two masked strangers behind him. Neither was ANBU, she noted with worry. _

_"Tenten, I-" Naruto closed his eyes and swallowed. The worried weapons mistress moved forward, sensing he needed her close. _

_"Tell me." It wasn;t an order but a request. Naruto began to cry and Tenten's eyes widened with worry. The boy in front of her wasn't a crybaby by any stretch of the imagination. Something very bad had happened. The girl looked in question at the people behind her friend and the Panther shook her head. She would let her new apprentice tell the girl. _

_"I've been banished." The words were quiet, almost impossible to discren and Tenten immediately thought she heard wrong. There was no way!_

_"Wh-What?" _

_"The council banished me for failing to bring back Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto said louder and Tenten closed her eyes, pushing the anger back. SHe could scream at the council later. For now, Naruto needed her. _

_"Where will you go?" Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and explaining the situation. Tenten nodded at the information and offered to accompany him. After all, banished nins could have one campanion if the companion went willingly. Naruto shook his head and refused. Given one week, Tenten stayed by her friends' side as he said goodbye. Again. And Again. And again. Each time, the person offered to accompany him. Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Lee, Chouji, Hinata, and even Shino offered but Naruto turned them all down, saying that they belonged in the leaf and should stay where they were. _

_Konohamaru's goodbye was the worst. The young boy cried on Naruto's shoulder, making him cry and they spent hours like that. Konohamaru begged to go and even when Naruto said 'no,' the boy still tried to accompany him. Finally, Asuma was forced to take his nephew away, apologizing to the blonde. _

_On the day that Naruto left, Tenten again asked to accompany him, already knowing the answer. And so, she watched as her best friend walked away and thought that she would never see him again. _

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

"I'm sorry. I wanted to but Tsunade said it would be too suspicious if you knew. I didn't really care but my partner told me that if he found out I did, he'd tell sensei. I still would've but all three of the people that were told warned me they'd tell Tsunade and Jiraiya. I backed down after that." Tenten laughed softly before hugging the boy from behind.

"I missed you, Naruto." The girl said softly, closing her eyes and taking in his scent.

"I missed you too, Tenten." The two held the position, Tenten holding Naruto before the girl finally pulled away and attempted a stern expression.

"There's one other thing." Naruto tilted his head to the side as was his habit and Tenten smiled a bit maliciously. "Why is your partner an Uchiha?" Naruto smiled nervously and backed up. He knew that Tenten loathed both Uchiha's: Sasuke for causing Naruto's banishment and Itachi for causing Sasuke's defection which caused Naruto's banishment.

"Well you see..." Naruto explained, hoping to appease the girl and Tenten grinned before requesting a meeting with Itachi to 'make sure he was worthy to partner with Naruto.' Naruto sighed but gave in, hoping that Itachi would be able to parry Tenten's questions well enough.

_**(A/N) Another chapter up. =) Thanks to all the people who gave me wonderful ideas and the Character Death option is still open since that probably won't happen for a few chapters. As for the length of the story, it will end when it ends and I might have a sequel depending on the ending that I have. **_

_**Anyway, for this chapter's questions**_

_**Should Naruto learn Hiraishin? (Jiraiya gave him the scroll a few chapters back)**_

_**Yes, **_

_**No**_

_**Maybe**_

_**And...**_

_**What summons should I give Kabuto? (Sasuke got the snake contract, not him.)**_

_**(1) Wolf**_

_**(2) Tiger**_

_**(3) Bear**_

_**(4) Snow Leopard**_

_**(5) Something else (Tell me!) **_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer:Don't own Naruto and never claimed to. This is made to appease my boredom.

Warning: Fight scenes and a bit of angst.

Ch. 9 Tenten's curiosity

"Uchiha Itachi." The weapons mistress said coolly, crossing her legs and glaring at the shinobi across from her. He stared back, his mask removed at her insistence. Naruto sat comfortably on the table watching the verbal tennis match begin.

"Tenten-san." Itachi replied evenly, staring at her with slight interest.

"What are you intentions towards Naruto-kun?" The question caused the Uchiha to smirk, turning his head at the blushing blonde sitting between them.

"I was unaware my teammate needed a mother." Naruto blushed an even brighter red and glared at his stoic partner.

"Ita, be nice..." The boy whined, using a voice that he knew drove his partner crazy. Itachi bared his teeth before smirking.

"Only if you behave, Naru-chan." Tenten watched with amusement as she was completely forgotten in the insult war happening between Naruto and the Uchiha.

"Ahem." Both boys stopped abruptly and looked at Tenten expectantly. "You haven't answered my question, Uchiha. What are your intentions towards Naruto?"

"He is my teammate. I mean to keep it that way." The Uchiha replied, leaning back with an air of superiority that he had mastered.

"Would you die for him?" Tenten asked and Naruto sighed, laying back on the table and watched the ceiling. He knew he was gonna get hell for this later when Itachi got him alone. He could only thank whatever god that was watching over him that Shadow wasn't awake for this.

"Hai."

"If he were captured by Akatsuki, what would you do?" The girl continued, leaning forward in her seat and staring at the onyx-eyed Uchiha.

"I would save him and kill him myself for his stupidity." Naruto shot up and began to reply when Tenten cut him off with a glare.

"You two can argue later. I'm in the middle of an interrogation." Itachi raised his eyebrow at the implication.

"And what, pray tell, am I being interrogated for, Tenten-san?"

"To see if your worthy of being Naruto's teammate." The Uchiha sighed and closed his eyes. He would kill his blonde haired friend later. For now, he had to deal with his overprotective girlfriend. Or maybe she was his mother.

"Uchiha?" Tenten asked, seeing he had zoned out.

"Hn?" The girl looked at him and Naruto sighed before translating.

"Sorry, I zoned. What was the question?" Itachi nodded, although he silently deleted the apology. Uchiha's never apologized.

"The question was, if you had to choose between your teammate and your mission, what would you choose?"

"Naruto-kun." The Uchiha replied with a hint of exasperation and glanced at his resting teammate. The interrogation continued until Naruto informed the group that he was hungry and that they would be accompanying him to Ichiraku's. Itachi thanked him for the escape while Tenten found the order amusing. The three headed out to the Ramen stand and talked about life in the Leaf v. life in the Light.

"I'm gonna go check on Shadow-sensei. Enjoy your time together lovebirds." The Uchiha was gone before Naruto or Tenten could reply and the weapons mistress grinned at Naruto.

"Lovebirds, huh? I think I like your teammate. At least, more than I did your last one." Tenten said, a smirk on her face. Naruto turned red and glared half-heartedly at her.

"And if you didn't approve of my teammate, what then?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious about her motives should Itachi not be up to par.

"I would inform the village that he was here." Naruto shook his head at her threat, knowing that she would have done just that to protect Naruto if she had deemed it necessary. "By the way, you saved the leaf a mission." The girl added, as they walked back to the hotel the visitors were staying at.

"How so?"

"The council asked to send the remaining Konoha 12, save for Sakura, to ask you to join the war. It's your choice but I was supposed to ask." Naruto sighed but shook his head. He would not go against his Kage's wish for total nuetrality. The girl nodded, a bit of disappointment in her eyes.

The talk strayed to the past before the hotel came into sight.

"See ya, Tenten-chan!" The brunnette nodded and watched as her blonde left in a hurry.

_Welcome Home, Naruto_

NINININININININININININININ

_ROOT Headquarters_

The ROOT ninja assigned to the mission prepared weapons and other items needed to assassinate the visiting Kira shinobi. With the kunoichi incapacitated, now was the best time to complete the mission.

The team moved forward as one, approaching the hotel and climbing the stairways to the ninja's room.

"When will she wake, Snake-kun?" Someone from inside asked. The ninja held his hand up and the team listened for a response.

"Soon, Fox-kun. Don't be so impatient." A second voice -Snake- replied annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey Raven, we leave tomorrow, right?" The first voice said, speaking to the third member of the four man team. The root nin frowned at the familiar was the partner that had accompanyed Uzumaki to the last council meeting as well as the retrieval mission of the Kazekage. Clearly, this person was his second of three targets, the ROOT nin thought before returning his attention to the conversation.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes. Will you return right away to the Raven realm?" The first voice continued, not put off by the short answer.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as another yes. Since you asked, I will be returning to the toad's realm." The energetic voice continued.

"I don't recall asking." The third voice -Raven- replied icily, causing -Fox- to laugh loudly.

"I know. All you said was 'Hn' which led me to assume the meaning." The root ninja bored of waiting and signalled to his teammates to move in. The door slammed open revealing three masked ninja's and one unconcious kunoichi. The ROOT attacked and killed all four only for them to expel revealing that they were clones.

"You really should be more careful, ROOT-san." One of his partners said, before striking him over the head with the back of a ninjato. The ninja's world went black as his 'teammates' shifted from attack position to a relaxed pose.

NININININININI

_20 minutes later Hotel Room_

Danzo's operative woke up to the glares of a team of masked shinobi. Instead of three furious nins, he noted with fear, there were four. Panther stood in front, glaring through her mask.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, straddling a chair that was placed in front of her by Raven. The ROOT ninja shook his head, not able to respond due to the seal on his tongue preventing him from spilling. Snake whispered something in her ear and the girl nodded.

"Are you loyal to the Hokage Tsunade?" The girl asked, tilting her head. Again, the operative sat there in silence. Fox spoke up.

"A nod means yes, A shake of your head means no. It's pretty simple." The operative considered before shaking his head. Honesty would likely prevent a war, the operative mused. He had already failed which meant that he would be killed on return to ROOT headquarter's so he would try to avoid another conflict with a nuetral country to remedy his failure though it would not save his life.

"Very well. You will be returning with us to Light. Raven, send a message to the Hokage that I am awake and that we will leave early tonight. Inform her of our prisoner and if she wishes to interrogate him, to send in the interrogator tonight." Raven nodded and obeyed by summoning his loyal ravens to deliver the message. The girl's gaze returned to him and she tilted her head, considering her options before sighing and turning to Fox. "Make some clones. They will be our guards tonight. Snake-san, prepare a sedative for the prisoner that a clone will give to him at midnight."

"Hai, Panther-sama." Snake replied, inclining his head at the order. "Panther-sama, please do not over-work yourself." He added after a second of silence. The girl agreed silently and stood, stretching.

"I'm gonna go tour the village." The girl decided, noting that she was wide-awake after her coma-like sleep.

"Tenten-san should be more than happy to show you around." Raven said softly, smirking under his mask at the chance for revenge against his teammate and the girl that protected him so fiercely. Besides, Itachi knew that Tenten would no doubt wish to speak with the AMAZON commander about Naruto and how _important _he was.

Noting the telltale movements in Naruto that indicated annoyance, Shadow agreed immediately and set off to find the weapon's mistress. As soon as she was gone, Fox turned to his partner and glared.

"What the hell?! Do you want me to get killed?" Naruto asked, pushing as much annoyance into his voice as possible.

"That is not my intention. Given that Tenten-san wished to interrogate me as your teammate, she undoubtedly wishes to do the same with our captain. I simply gave them the oppurtunity to speak." Raven said monotonously, only angering the AMAZON fox more.

"Fuck!" Itachi snickered silently, once again glad for the mask that allowed him freedom of facial movements.

NINNININININININININININININ 

"Tenten-san?" Shadow said, looking at the kunoichi in the weapons store. Tenten whirled and examined the AMAZON in front of her before nodded in response to her name. "I was told by Fox and Raven that you might be willing to give me a tour of the village?" Shadow said, not breaking eye contact, though it was one-sided given Tenten couldn't see her eyes.

"I would be glad to, Panther-san. May I purchase these first?" Panther nodded and waited for the weapons' mistress to finish.

"How do you like Konoha?" Tenten smiled at the simple conversation starter as they wondered through the buildings while Tenten explained the purpose of them.

"I love it. I wish the civilians weren;t so stupid, but the shinobi are extra-ordinary and incredbly skilled. I'm honored to be a part of it, though less so without Naruto-kun." Shadow nodded in understanding.

"What did he mean to you?"

"Hmm?"

"What did Naruto mean to you?" Tenten examined the jounin ninja before slowly answering.

"From the end of the chuunin exams to the Sasuke-retrieval mission, he meant the world to me. Now, I know that he was indeed my world and I miss him very much." Tenten replied hesitantly. Shadow nodded in understanding.

"An outstanding shinobi and an even better man, that Naruto." Was the only response that the AMAZON gave.

"Hai. He woudl make a wonderful father or teacher." Shadow snikered at the teacher part, causing the Konoha kunoichi to raise an eyebrow and glance at the ninja beside her.

"The teacher part isn't that true, though it isn't exactly his fault persay. He has a team but our missions keep coming, as well as sage training so his team has basically become another shinobi's duty." Tenten laughed.

"Does Raven has a team as well?" Shadow nodded and smiled.

"He's in the exact same situation. The genin are doing well without them, but for the most part, I've become the sensei for three teams." Tenten smiled softly and stopped. They had reached the top of the Hokage monument and were currently staring out at the village.

"Does he ever talk about us, Panther-san?" Tenten asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes. He misses the majority of the Konoha 12." Tenten sighed and sat down, still looking at her village.

"It gets harder and harder to love Konoha the more I learn about what they did to him. I miss him so much and he its not like he can just come back. He's banished and I hate them for it." The girl closed her eyes and bit back tears.

"Them, Tenten-chan?" Shadow urged, sitting beside her.

"Everyone who ever doubted him. Civilians, The council, Sakura, Kakashi, and most of all Sasuke. If he hadn't lost his mind and left, Naruto wouldn't have had to. I hate him so much!" The weapons' mistress closed her eyes, reigning in her emotions. Shadow sighed but began to speak.

"Naruto hated them at first. When he first came to Kira, he wanted to kill the council, the civilians, Sasuke. He wanted to do anything to return." Tenten heard the sorrow and glanced at the masked councilwoman beside her.

"What happened?"

"Well..."

_XXFlashbackXX_

_Naruto closed his eyes, trying to bury the negative emotions as the original team plus one left Konoha. The young boy's anger was obvious, and the air was full of killer intent that he tried to restrain. None of the kunoichi with him said anything, afraid to make it worse. And so, they continued to travel with two angry blondes (Naruto much angrier than the Kage) and two broken hearted AMAZON warriors. _

_FInally, the day ended and the four ninja stopped to rest. Serenity and Snake almost immediately fell asleep, leaving Shadow on guard. Naruto also remained awake, straing at the fire in between them. _

_"It hurts doesn't it?" Shadow said softly, staring at the twisting flames. Naruto's head shot up and he stared at the girl. "You just want to kill them all. Its so unfair, you didn't deserve it." The girl continued and Naruto nodded. "And then your thoughts change. Maybe I did deserve it. If I had done something, anything different, they wouldn't be so mad." Again, the young blonde nodded, _

_"Hai." He agreed softly, shifting his gaze to the floor. _

_"You can't think like that, Naruto-kun." The boy stared at her. "It'll only destroy you in the end. You'll give into hatred, both of yourself and of Konoha, and you'll end up doing something you will regret." Naruto continued to stare before returning his gaze to the ground. _

_"How do you know?" Shadow stood up and glanced at the stars. _

_"I was banished to. For a crime that I don't remember commiting. Maybe I did it, maybe I didn't. Afterwards, I became soulless. Evil. Cruel. I killed a lot of people. But I won't go into details. Just know, the second I gave into my hatred, I became the demon that they accused you of being. You're not a demon Naruto. Not now. But give into those dark feelings and you will be. Just like I was." WIth that, the kunoichi disappeared and Naruto returned his gaze to the fire._

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

"One day passed before Naru and I talked again. He had been silent the entire rest of the way home and we had decided to sleep one last time before continuing the next two hours home. The blonde came to me this time."

_XXFlashbackXX_

_"How did you get rid of your hatred, Shadow-sensei?" The boy asked voice dull compared to when he was in the hospital._

_"Serenity-sama beat it out of me." The kunoichi replied with a soft grin._

_"That's it?" _

_"Pretty much. That's all it took. See, the family that banished me was like the Uchiha clan, elitists. We, I believed that because I was a Kuran, I was the best. We have a bloodline limit like the Uchiha's although ours aren't an advanced eye technique. Instead, my former clan and I could manipulate chains." _

_"Chains?" Naruto asked, eyes on the girl telling the story. _

_"Hai. Shadow chains. They need shadows like the Nara clan, but they are incredibly strong and once created, don't use any more chakra. The main downfall is that once the hains are created, the jutsu can't be used again until the first set of chains are released." Shadow expained, smirking at her soon-to-be student._

_"That's awesome!" The boy said loudly, showing a bit of his old character. _

_"I agree. Anyway, I attacked Serenity thinking that she would die like the rest. At this point, I was lower S-ranked shinobi with orders to kill-on-sight and Serenity was on the council as the second strongest like I am now. We fouught and she won in about five minutes. It was humiliating but she explained why she fought and convinced me to go to her village with her. After that, the Karikage and her teamed up and brought me out of my misery." Shadow finished, a soft smile on her face. _

_"I see... Shadow-sensei, Did you ever return to who you were?" Naruto asked, after a brief silence. Shadow's eyes darkened and she nodded her head once. Not expecting her to finish, they sat in silence before the councilmember began to speak. _

_"It was right after Ren was promoted."_

_"Ren?" Naruto questioned, _

_"Serenity-sama. Anyway, Karikage-sama sent me on my first mission as a member of the council. I was headed to Iwa for a chunnin exam. As it so happened, my uncle and father both had teams competing and they arrived at the same time. When I saw them, I went ballistic and went into an abandoned area to get rid of the bloodlust. Thankfully, I didn't injure or kill anyone but just knowing I was capable of it scared me. Later, while in the Kage box with Karikage-sama and my uncle, I realized he didn't recognize me." _

_"How did that make you feel?" Naruto asked, entranced by this powerful kunoichi's tale. _

_"Like I was nothing." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Get to bed, Gaki. You need rest. We'll be in Light tomorrow and you'll have to go through all sorts of crap." Naruto obeyed immediately and Shadow sighed into the fire._

_XXEnd FlashbackXX_

"After that, Naruto took about two weeks to fully return to his old self though a little less lous and a little less trusting. Since then, He's been fine." Tenten smiled softly at this woman in front of her. She understood just how much Naruto meant to the kunoichi and appreciated it a lot.

"Thanks for telling me, Shadow-sama." The black-haired ninja nodded once. Before turning and before she could stop herself made an offer.

"Come to Light with us." Shadow blurted out and Tenten's eyes widened. The weapons mistress considered it.

"Tsunade would never let me." The girl said, hanging her head in thought.

"Not necessarily. We'll tell her it's a training mission. You can stay for three years and you'll always be welcome within our borders if you accept. Once an apprentice, always an apprentice." Shadow said, plowing forward. After all, this girl would make Naruto happy and could likely keep the boys in line. And to top it off, she would finally have a full team.

"Alright. I accept." Tenten said, smiling genuinely at the thought of leaving. Shadow nodded once.

"Go to the hotel. I'll deal with the Hokage." Tenten obeyed and Shadow jumped dpwn the monument, stopping herself at crucial parts to keep from hurting herself at the bottom. Automatically, the black-haired panther flew through the streets to the Hokage and jumped through the window.

Hatake Kakashi and Tsunade turned to look at the foreign council member.

"Yo." The lazy jounin earned a scorching glare. Tsunade smiled at the automatic dislike before questioning Shadow's presence.

"I would like to tell you that I have offered to teach Tenten for three years." Shadow said, moving to sit gracefully in the only available chair.

"And she accepted?" At the nod, Tsunade sighed but pushed forward some paperwork and Shadow filled it out.

"Shadow-san." Kakashi said after a few moments of silence.

"Yes?" The girl replied, turning to glare at Kakashi.

"Can I see Naruto?" Shadows' response was what both had expected. 'Hell no.' At the moment she finished, though, the door opened and Fox walked through the door, inclining his head to the Karikage before turning to his sensei.

"Is Tenten really returning to become your third apprentice?" Shadow nodded imperiously, not looking up from the form she was filling out. "Awesome!" Naruto yelled.

"Fox-kun, may I speak with you privately?" Hatake asked, eyes on his masked former student. Naruto turned to look at his sensei, though the contempt under his mask wasn't visible.

"Certainly, Hatake-kun." Shadow still did not look uo but she unleashed slight killer intent. Her hair covered her face but Kakashi knew that she was unhappy with her student's agreeable attitude.

"Hatake Kakashi, if there is even a scratch on Fox when he returns, I swear to god I will slice you open and feed you, still alive, to my panther summons." Kakashi sensed the truth and nodded apprehensively before following the snickering Fox away.

NINININININININININ

"What did you want to talk about, Hatake?" Naruto said, collapsing to the ground on his father's head.

"I have two questions for you." Naruto waved his hand, indicating to the jounin that he should ask. "One: Why did you agree to become Uchiha Itachi's teammate?"

"I heard the reason he massacred his clan. Next question?" Kakashi frowned at the answer but nodded as though it made sense.

"Do you intend to help Uchiha Sasuke?" Naruto threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't a laugh that Kakashi had heard before. No, this one sent shivers down his spine and reminded him that Naruto wasn't the same person.

"Why should I, _sensei?" _Naruto asked, turning around and standing.

"Because you promised Sakura to return Sasuke to her." The jounin replied, though he knew the excuse was lame. Naruto tilted his head in thought, before reaching his hand up to remove his mask.

"You're right sensei, I did." Naruto replied, his eyes sparkling sinisterly and his mouth curving in a demented grin. "And I will return the teme back to Konoha. In a coffin. After all, it isn't like he deserves better." Kakashi watched as his former student walked towards the stairs.

"I have one last question for you." Naruto turned around and narrowed his eyes, waiting.

"Do you hate me, Naruto?" The blonde boy smirked.

"When I left the village, I said goodbye to everyone I didn't hate. Does that answer your question?" Kakashi nodded once. In the week that Naruto had to say goodbye, never once did he come visit the jounin. Kakashi closed his eye, blocking out the words that the pain caused. Naruto smiled cruelly at the jounin he once admired before disappearing. He had nothing left to say. Neither of them did.

_**(A/N) Sorry for the late update. For those of you that like Kakashi, I apologize for the bit o bashing that I did. But for the record, I think that he was a terrible sensei. He never did anything to help Naruto or Sakura. The only one that he even kind of helped was Sasuke. **_

_**Anyway... **_

_**I have so many of my questions that I still have to add that I'm just gonna do a few really simple ones that will occur much much later.**_

_**Should Orochimaru die?**_

_**Yes**_

_**No**_

_**Should Pain die?**_

_**Yes **_

_**No**_

_**Deidara?**_

_**Yes **_

_**No**_

_**Sasori?**_

_**Yes **_

_**No**_

_**If you want any other characters that you particularly hate to die, then just let me know. Otherwise, thanks for the review. **_

_**~DarkBlackHeart 3**_


End file.
